Map of UMTS 2100 Telecom XT coverage?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Map of UMTS 2100 Telecom XT coverage?

Linuxluver

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#55439 4-Jan-2010 17:10

I have seen very few phones that support both UMTS 850 and 900.

Is there a map of where NZ cell providers support UMTS 2100? Most 3G phones appear to support UMTS 2100 whether or not they support UMTS 850 or UMTS 900.

My own HTC Magic android phone can happily use Telecom's XT network provided I'm in a UMTS 2100 coverage area (which i usually am, at home and at work). This is despite the phone not supporting UMTS 850.

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sbiddle

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#286932 4-Jan-2010 17:17

Are you wanting a map of just XT or Vodafone as well? You can view Vodafone's 2100MHz coverage on their website under Coverage.

Telecom have 2100 coverage in

Auckland
Hamilton
Rotorua
Wellington
Nelson
Christchurch
Queenstown
Dunedin
Invercargill

But coverage within these areas is *limited* - there is not blanket 2100MHz coverage and it's used simply for infill and to provide additional capacity.

If your question is going to lead to whether you can use a 2100Mhz only handset on the XT the answer is no - don't even bother going there. The network is 100% 850MHz and a handset needs to be dual band 850/2100.

As for handsets that support both 850 and 900 WCDMA you wouldn't have seen one at all - none yet exist. There are a handful of data cards that have hit the market within the last few months that support quad band UMTS and we should see plenty of handsets hitting the market this year that do the same.

Linuxluver

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#286938 4-Jan-2010 17:31

Thanks, Steve. I didn't think there were any 850/900 phones around, but knew that if i asserted they did / did not exist, someone would be sure to correct me....so i fudged. :-)

Yes, all 2100 coverage owuld be of interest, from any telco.

I'm a Vodafone account customer, but I also have a Telecom XT pre-pay SIM as a backup for data in the event VFNZ fall over....as sometimes happens. Thanks for the information.

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sbiddle

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#286943 4-Jan-2010 17:42

Linuxluver:
Yes, all 2100 coverage owuld be of interest, from any telco.

You can see the VF 2100 coverage on their website, just filter by "3G broadband". Telecom don't split their 850/2100 because there is no need.

ajw

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#286949 4-Jan-2010 18:02

Linuxluver: I have seen very few phones that support both UMTS 850 and 900.

Is there a map of where NZ cell providers support UMTS 2100? Most 3G phones appear to support UMTS 2100 whether or not they support UMTS 850 or UMTS 900.

My own HTC Magic android phone can happily use Telecom's XT network provided I'm in a UMTS 2100 coverage area (which i usually am, at home and at work). This is despite the phone not supporting UMTS 850.

Have a look here here. But you need Google Earth to open these files.

http://cid-21228dfc4e937fda.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Public/Cellsite%20Locations?sa=73419042

Damager

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#286963 4-Jan-2010 18:59

None of the handset manufacturers have been able to create a chipset where 3G 850 and 900 can peacefully co-exist.. yet. This year should see some quad band UMTS handsets though. It'll be interesting to see which manufacturer comes out with a quad band 3G handset first!

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quickymart

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#286974 4-Jan-2010 19:54

Linuxluver: ...Yes, all 2100 coverage owuld be of interest, from any telco.

2100 wouldn't go terribly far over a lot of NZ's terrain, if I recall correctly, that's why there's 850/900 (it goes further than 2100). Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

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Linuxluver

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#286995 4-Jan-2010 20:56

I've looked at the Telecom XT coverage maps and the built-up areas around Auckland, in particular. I can see a clear difference between the smaller "good" bubbles and the wider, fuzzier "fair" bubbles...which take in rural areas and bad terrain.

In higher density areas, looks to me like TNZ would need call-handling capacity as much as coverage and the 2100 coverage appears to be very good over virtually all the metropolitan area where business / residential density is high. That includes pretty much any part of town I find myself in on any given day.

Looks like this problem of 850 vs 900 will resolve itself over the next couple of years. In the meantime, where I live and work, there doesn't appear to be a problem relying on 2G data and 3G UMTS 2100 only on those occasions i do use my Telecom XT SIM in my HTC Magic. Looking at my phone bills for the last 6 months, I make *very* few phone calls (10-15 mins / month?) and my cell is mainly used for txt and heavily used for data......and my phone does EDGE with anyone and 2100 3G with Telecom XT at home and at work. I actually have two phones...for reasons too boring to go into here.

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