sbiddle:

mjsit&t:

sbiddle:

n00dy: The problem that arises is that there is no clear answer on what type of frequency they will choose.

This has been pointed out in all of Telecom's Press Releases. It will be a WCDMA 2100Mhz 3G network in metropolitan areas and 850MHz GSM with EDGE overlay in the rest of the country.

still trying to find where they actually say that - they mention a blend, some sources in the industry believe they will run both GSM and WCDMA on both 2100mhz and 850mhz so it will be intersting to see. The only media release stating this Juha's which was the first to break the news. That release mentioned the WCDMA / HSPA @ 2100mhz and GSM /EDGE @ 850mhz. But that has not been confirmed by TNZ yet. They are keeping pretty quiet about the details.

 

Well there is no GSM 2100MHz so that instantly rules that out.

In regards to the 850MHz Telecom could potentially run both GSM and UMTS in their AMPS B spectrum but it would seem crazy to do that, they're far better off just sticking with GSM because the added bandwidth that WCDMA will offer isn't a big deal as they will have EDGE and have an existing CDMA network that will still be running in parallel. Within 5 years time WCDMA LTE will be reality and Telecom can dump their GSM and skip a whole generation of WCMDA gear that would all be obsolete had they gone that way and have a great network.

Going 100% 850MHz WCDMA would be a stupid decision since one of the key factors that necessitated this build was the issue of roaming. So few people have 850MHz WCDMA handsets that the market for inbound roaming customers would be very small whereas most GSM handsets these days are all 850 GSM capable and a large % sold in the past 1-2 years are as well.

To quote from the initial Telecom press release

Coverage and spectrum use
Coverage will be provided utilising a blend of WCDMA/HSPA at 2100 MHz and GSM/EDGE at 850 MHz technologies.

In particular, 850 MHz spectrum will be utilised to ensure strong rural coverage is achieved, with 2100 MHz employed largely in cities and large metropolitan areas.

This makes it pretty clear it's a 2100MHz WCMDA network and a 850 GSM/EDGE network, I'm not sure why so many people seem to be confuded about it.