The Herald poll on 3G networks...

What a joke the pricing is in New Zealand. For the same price ($AU49)you can get 7 Gig in Aussie on the 3 Hutchison network
including a free USB key.

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robbypreb

131 posts

Master Geek

#180094 24-Nov-2008 22:51

manhinli: Here's one from their catalogue a while back (when they first launched the "Share the love" campaign)

Now that time, they were pretty generic: "We have New Zealand's largest and fastest mobile network" - that was stretching it a bit more, and looks like Vodafone have already back-pedalled on that a little bit to turn that into their "3G network".

That is probably the one telecom has submitted to the commerce commission. When a company makes that sort of claim, they should at least make sure that they are 100% correct.

bbman

646 posts

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#180099 24-Nov-2008 22:58

HAHAHA that is so funny, the fact that its the largest & fastest mobile network is so funny.... are they serious?

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tonyhughes

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#180101 24-Nov-2008 23:00

JoeBloggs: When Paul and Mauricio get into the carrier debates, I get a bag of popcorn and sit back and watch the show

+1

Vodafone has really lost the plot here.

I like to think I am a reasonably fair minded person these days (After all, I have retired as a GZ mod <<< SO TONGUE IN CHEEK!!

)

I just cannot fathom any way that this could be called anything other than totally deceptive marketing by Vodafone.

If Vodafone can spin this, and truly convince anyone, then I would be simply astonished.

JoeBloggs

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#180119 25-Nov-2008 01:42

I see your point Tony, and us being geeks, we will always be outraged at deceptions involving subjects we are so technically knowledgeable of. Fact is, marketing has been doing this since before you or I were born. They will push the boundaries of public perceptions (and stupidity). They're getting away with it too and the average customer doesn't even really care. Hell, I don't even really care. Telecom will come out with something just as 'witty' when they launch their "3G" network. The public doesn't care enough about the nitty gritty, they just see buzzwords and flashing lights and sirens appear in their brains.

Why do you think Apple sells anything? >=D

JoeBloggs

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#180120 25-Nov-2008 01:59

If I may clear something up for myself as I simply don't know. Several people have asserted that the term "3G" encompasses the likes of 1xRTT, EVDO and EDGE, not just WCDMA. I was under the impression that the term was regulated by some central authority (Mobile Communications Standards?). Am I incorrect? Is the term simply an industry buzzword incorporating whatever signal methods a supplier wishes at the time?

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NonprayingMantis

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#180152 25-Nov-2008 09:51

JoeBloggs: If I may clear something up for myself as I simply don't know. Several people have asserted that the term "3G" encompasses the likes of 1xRTT, EVDO and EDGE, not just WCDMA. I was under the impression that the term was regulated by some central authority (Mobile Communications Standards?). Am I incorrect? Is the term simply an industry buzzword incorporating whatever signal methods a supplier wishes at the time?

Correct. It is standardised (by the International Telecommunication Union ), and the standard encomnpases several types of network, one of which is the EVDO techonology that Telecom currently uses.

So to say largest 3G network is 100% incorrect because the EVDO that telecom uses is a 3G network, and provides better coverage than Vodafone’s 3G network.

In the posters voda say in the small print ‘…based on WCDMA network’ so technically it is correct, however it is highly misleading because the 3G standard includes other types of network..

As has been mentioned on this thread, it would be like McDonalds saying

“We have the healthiest burger in New Zealand”
And then in small print
“…based on comparison of McDonalds Big Macs with other restaurants Big Macs”

And since no other restaurants have big macs, they would be technically correct.

JoeBloggs

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#180172 25-Nov-2008 11:23

Thanks Mantis, I get the fuss now.

MadMax

11 posts

Geek

#180173 25-Nov-2008 11:28

Yea thanks Mantis, that explains it really well.

juha

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#180180 25-Nov-2008 11:49

You can't put 3G voice calls over EV-DO though... although I have used both Skype and VoIP over it just fine.

Juha

NonprayingMantis

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#180188 25-Nov-2008 12:31

juha: You can't put 3G voice calls over EV-DO though... although I have used both Skype and VoIP over it just fine.

So what?

3G provides no material benefit for voice over 2G/2.5G anyway.
The big deal is for data – for which Telecom’s 3G EVDO network provides superior coverage than Voda 3G network. (also remember the Voda advert is specifically referring to the 3G mobile Broadband network.)

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nzbnw

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#180189 25-Nov-2008 12:33

juha: You can't put 3G voice calls over EV-DO though... although I have used both Skype and VoIP over it just fine.

Correct, that would be called EVDV, something that didn't take off with the mobile operators.

nzbnw

sbiddle

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#180191 25-Nov-2008 13:04

NonprayingMantis:
juha: You can't put 3G voice calls over EV-DO though... although I have used both Skype and VoIP over it just fine.

So what?

3G provides no material benefit for voice over 2G/2.5G anyway.

It does actually, at least when you're talking about WCDMA. That offers significantly higher network capacity than GSM and also offers AMR as the defacto voice codec although Vodafone have now deployed AMR on their GSM network but the majority of GSM operators have not done this.

juha

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#180196 25-Nov-2008 13:21

What sbiddle says, plus there's the dimension of a full 3G network (voice and data) or a 2.5G voice/data network with 3G overlay for data only. If you want to be accurate and detailed, that is.

Juha

paradoxsm

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#180198 25-Nov-2008 13:48

Typical herald, the poll is busted.

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