Spark 4G update 2014...

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#1200908 20-Dec-2014 06:17

sbiddle: There is an awful lot of hot air, exaggerated claims and to be honest some blatant lies that have come out of Spark in recent months from various across various areas of the business. While the company may have turned around in many ways, there are some areas where things have certainly taken a large step backwards.

I'd sooner the puff piece from Spark than the 1 1/2 hour hold times Vodafone is giving or the lack of being able to walk into a store front to cancel an extra set top box not to mention that we're at the end of 2014 and one still cannot manage all of ones services through a single login on the Vodafone website. I think Spark is well within their rights for a little pat on the back and boasting given that context.

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#1200929 20-Dec-2014 08:21

do i need to upgrade to a band 28 phone if i live in Dunedin?

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#1200930 20-Dec-2014 08:24

thelongwayround:
But bring on 700Mhz, will be good to see it across the west coast.

700Mhz won't (and can't) exceed the current 850Mhz coverage. It has to mirror existing 3G coverage, and a lot of effort is being put into this by all 3 companies to ensure that LTE coverage only mirrors 3G to avoid the massive issues that could occur if there were areas with LTE, but no 3G coverage.

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#1200932 20-Dec-2014 08:26

michaelmurfy: Both networks still come down to personal preference of the customer - who really needs excessive data speeds on their phone? I am just happy to be able to use my phone at the most locations I can.

Okay, as many have said before:

4G is not just about speed. The other benefits of 4G include:

1. less battery usage (your phone spends less time using its radio to load web pages for example = less power used)
2. less congestion at peak times (each node/tower has greater bandwidth to share - who has been caught with crap bandwidth at New Years before? Taupo anyone?)
3. more coverage from a node (cell tower) (your 4G phone will work well with at least -125 signal,, whereas 3G fails at -109)

I recommend everyone should jump on the 4G bandwagon, especially when they start to roll out VoLTE.

I am looking forward to the rollout of the 700MHz network across the country, Sparks 1800MHz 4G (in Wellington anyway) is just too patchy for my liking.

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#1200938 20-Dec-2014 08:32

sbiddle:
thelongwayround:
But bring on 700Mhz, will be good to see it across the west coast.

700Mhz won't (and can't) exceed the current 850Mhz coverage. It has to mirror existing 3G coverage, and a lot of effort is being put into this by all 3 companies to ensure that LTE coverage only mirrors 3G to avoid the massive issues that could occur if there were areas with LTE, but no 3G coverage.

This is only due to there being no active voice network (VoLTE) embedded within our 4G networks yet right?

As I explained above, it can very easily exceed all other technologies including 850 when installed correctly, its just a better technology.

hamish225

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#1201327 21-Dec-2014 04:09

when spark finally roll out VoLTE will my brand new iphone 6 support it?

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

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#1201328 21-Dec-2014 04:18

jjnz1:
sbiddle:
thelongwayround:
But bring on 700Mhz, will be good to see it across the west coast.

700Mhz won't (and can't) exceed the current 850Mhz coverage. It has to mirror existing 3G coverage, and a lot of effort is being put into this by all 3 companies to ensure that LTE coverage only mirrors 3G to avoid the massive issues that could occur if there were areas with LTE, but no 3G coverage.

This is only due to there being no active voice network (VoLTE) embedded within our 4G networks yet right?

Yes - but even when VoLTE is live (and my understanding is Spark will be launching it, despite VoLTE being a dead end solution) the problem isn't immediately solved due to the large number of devices that will exist without VoLTE support.

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#1201356 21-Dec-2014 09:17

What happens when most people have moved to 4G, will 3G data be cheaper or will it be phased out?

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#1201360 21-Dec-2014 09:23

There will be 5g

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#1201362 21-Dec-2014 09:24

That's why I'm wondering whether it's worth jumping on the band 28 bandwagon

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#1201374 21-Dec-2014 10:05

HowickDota: What happens when most people have moved to 4G, will 3G data be cheaper or will it be phased out?

3G isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

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#1201468 21-Dec-2014 13:35

sbiddle:
jjnz1:
sbiddle:
thelongwayround:
But bring on 700Mhz, will be good to see it across the west coast.

700Mhz won't (and can't) exceed the current 850Mhz coverage. It has to mirror existing 3G coverage, and a lot of effort is being put into this by all 3 companies to ensure that LTE coverage only mirrors 3G to avoid the massive issues that could occur if there were areas with LTE, but no 3G coverage.

This is only due to there being no active voice network (VoLTE) embedded within our 4G networks yet right?

Yes - but even when VoLTE is live (and my understanding is Spark will be launching it, despite VoLTE being a dead end solution) the problem isn't immediately solved due to the large number of devices that will exist without VoLTE support.

What do you mean it's a dead end solution, what's wrong with it?

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

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#1201515 21-Dec-2014 14:47

hamish225:
sbiddle:
jjnz1:
sbiddle:
thelongwayround:
But bring on 700Mhz, will be good to see it across the west coast.

700Mhz won't (and can't) exceed the current 850Mhz coverage. It has to mirror existing 3G coverage, and a lot of effort is being put into this by all 3 companies to ensure that LTE coverage only mirrors 3G to avoid the massive issues that could occur if there were areas with LTE, but no 3G coverage.

This is only due to there being no active voice network (VoLTE) embedded within our 4G networks yet right?

Yes - but even when VoLTE is live (and my understanding is Spark will be launching it, despite VoLTE being a dead end solution) the problem isn't immediately solved due to the large number of devices that will exist without VoLTE support.

What do you mean it's a dead end solution, what's wrong with it?

The problem is it's based on an IMS core.

There will be plenty of networks around the world that never deploy voice on LTE. They have perfectly good 3G networks to deliver fallback voice services, and the reality is voice is a dying market with OTT applications taking a bigger chunk of the market.

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#1201774 22-Dec-2014 09:51

sbiddle:
hamish225:
sbiddle:
jjnz1:
sbiddle:
thelongwayround:
But bring on 700Mhz, will be good to see it across the west coast.

700Mhz won't (and can't) exceed the current 850Mhz coverage. It has to mirror existing 3G coverage, and a lot of effort is being put into this by all 3 companies to ensure that LTE coverage only mirrors 3G to avoid the massive issues that could occur if there were areas with LTE, but no 3G coverage.

This is only due to there being no active voice network (VoLTE) embedded within our 4G networks yet right?

Yes - but even when VoLTE is live (and my understanding is Spark will be launching it, despite VoLTE being a dead end solution) the problem isn't immediately solved due to the large number of devices that will exist without VoLTE support.

What do you mean it's a dead end solution, what's wrong with it?

The problem is it's based on an IMS core.

There will be plenty of networks around the world that never deploy voice on LTE. They have perfectly good 3G networks to deliver fallback voice services, and the reality is voice is a dying market with OTT applications taking a bigger chunk of the market.

There's also plenty of networks in the US and japan that are launching VoLTE so it can't all as bad as you make it out..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#1201784 22-Dec-2014 10:05

old3eyes:
sbiddle: The problem is it's based on an IMS core.

There will be plenty of networks around the world that never deploy voice on LTE. They have perfectly good 3G networks to deliver fallback voice services, and the reality is voice is a dying market with OTT applications taking a bigger chunk of the market.

There's also plenty of networks in the US and japan that are launching VoLTE so it can't all as bad as you make it out..

Biddle's just disappointed you can't run Asterisk with VoLTE ;)

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