XT and 111 Calls from other operators

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DjShadow

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#62693 12-Jun-2010 18:40

Regarding this piece from One News (tonights story isn't online yet but link here)

In a nutshell if you are calling 111 and it can't connect e.g low coverage then the phone should be able to connect to another available operator (vodafone & 2degrees) if they have coverage and route the call through to Emergency Services.

Telecom is being slammed by the media for not allowing calls from Vodafone/2degrees users to be routed through their network if for some reason Vodafone/2degrees can't put the call through.

Bit that bothers me about the news piece is they didn't factor in the technology that XT runs on, as I understand it all phones presently sold by Vodafone/2degrees can't connect to XT's W850 network unless you happen to be in places like auckland where they have a fair amount of W2100 coverage as well as W850, so in theory it shouldn't really matter if Telecom doesn't route 111 calls due to the phones not being able to connect to XT.

my 2c.

freitasm

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#341012 12-Jun-2010 18:53

I was interviewed by TV One this week about this. We recorded it in Wellington, but not sure it made it to the piece.

In summary, all Telecom XT handsets (except one model) will work on Vodafone (at least 2G or 3G 2100MHz) and similarly on 2degrees.

The other way around is not true. Only a couple of Vodafone handsets will work on Telecom XT (including the Apple iPhone). But this is not intentional. I explained (more than once) that hardware differences, radio spectrum, etc all play a role in this.

So reality is Telecom users have more luck than others on those two providers.

The reporter asked me why doesn't Telecom then deploy a network that would work with Vodafone handsets in case of emergencies. I told them telcos can only use the spectrum they are allowed to, managed by the MED. Nothing much else can be done.

As per Telecom accepting emergency calls from users on other networks that do have handsets that work on XT, the software currently deployed doesn't differentiate between roaming calls and emergency calls, so opening it up would mean everyone would be able to roam. This is what Telecom is waiting to be fixed by Alcatel-Lucent before they can allow emergency calls from other network users on XT.

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codyc1515

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#341016 12-Jun-2010 19:03

Everyone slams XT for being so unreliable and everything with all the recent issues and downtime.

Yet they do not look at the big picture.
If Vodafone & 2degrees are so good, then why in the world would they have to rely on XT??

It's not Telecom's problem that Vodafone/2degrees doesn't have good enough coverage,
IMO they should fix their own problems, instead of whining about XT and confusing the media

--cody (Just my opinion)

johnr

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#341017 12-Jun-2010 19:07

codyc1515: Everyone slams XT for being so unreliable and everything with all the recent issues and downtime.

Yet they do not look at the big picture.
If Vodafone & 2degrees are so good, then why in the world would they have to rely on XT??

It's not Telecom's problem that Vodafone/2degrees doesn't have good enough coverage,
IMO they should fix their own problems, instead of whining about XT and confusing the media

--cody (Just my opinion)

Vodafone NZ do not have to rely on the XT network in anyway thanks have you seen the news article or read the post above by MF?

John

freitasm

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#341018 12-Jun-2010 19:08

codyc1515: Yet they do not look at the big picture. If Vodafone & 2degrees are so good, then why in the world would they have to rely on XT??

Not exactly. But what the mainstream media ignores is that telcos have outages every day. Sure they are not as large as Telecom XT complete black out south of Taupo for eleven hours, but every day some cell sites will just die, lose connectivity, or perform in some sort of reduced capacity.

This is just a fact of life. Just read on Twitter how Vodafone has problems keeping 3G up in the Wellington CBD now and them.

No mobile operator is offering 99.9999% reliability in all cell sites. Now that the Telecom XT nationwide outages seem to be history, their network has been performing well.

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freitasm

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#341019 12-Jun-2010 19:11

johnr:
codyc1515: If Vodafone & 2degrees are so good, then why in the world would they have to rely on XT??

Vodafone NZ do not have to rely on the XT network in anyway thanks have you seen the news article or read the post above by MF?

He's asking because the pieve on TV One says clearly that in case of an outage, Vodafone customers should be able to place emergency calls through other networks. This is not possible on XT, for the reasons I explained above.

Cody is not saying Vodafone is relying on Telecom XT for anything else.

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nickd

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#341025 12-Jun-2010 19:22

I watched the piece myself. It seemed that they were asked to keep that function switched off because of some limiting software issue (that stopped them knowing if the roaming phone had a simcard or not....maybe?). Anyone care to explain to the intellectually challenged?

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freitasm

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#341028 12-Jun-2010 19:28

nickd: I watched the piece myself. It seemed that they were asked to keep that function switched off because of some limiting software issue (that stopped them knowing if the roaming phone had a simcard or not....maybe?). Anyone care to explain to the intellectually challenged? :-p

Two different things here:

1. On request from emergency services, it is not possible to place an emergency call in New Zealand from a handset without a SIM card. All operators follow this request, it's not a Telecom thing. The reason is simple: if you remove the SIM card it's harder (but not impossible) to identify a prankster placing fake emergency calls. This is on all operators in New Zealand.

2. Telecom XT can not currently service users of other New Zealand networks (Vodafone, 2degrees) trying to place emergency calls because they have roaming disabled. The piece of software supplied by Alcatel-Lucent that manages this part can not distinguish between roaming calls and roaming emergency calls. Until this is fixed by Alcatel-Lucent, there isn't much Telecom can do.

Also, as explained before, not all Vodafone/2degrees handsets would connect to the Telecom XT network anyway, because of differences in radio technology/spectrum.

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nickd

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#341029 12-Jun-2010 19:32

I thought there might have been some spin in it. Thanks.

freitasm

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#341033 12-Jun-2010 19:35

Also, not talking about Telecom CDMA users. These ones can not use Vodafone, 2degrees or even Telecom XT for emergency calls, simply because of completely different radio technology. And vice-versa. Telecom won't say but if they have 500,000 Telecom XT users, then they should still have another 1,500,000 Telecom CDMA users out there!

Obviously the mainstream media is missing the point that there are still many more Telecom CDMA users than Telecom XT users out there.

They also completely miss the point that 20% of home users have cordless phones* - completely useless during a power outage. OMG, no emergency calls for these people if the power goes out!

* According to our expert sbiddle...

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hellonearthisman

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#341042 12-Jun-2010 20:21

The TVNZ article... Interesting reading the missing details.

freitasm

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#341044 12-Jun-2010 20:25

Interesting. They say it's to prevent other network users without a SIM card to use Telecom's network. This makes no sense at all. If there isn't a SIM card, how would Telecom know it's a roaming call?

This is completely wrong...

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#341045 12-Jun-2010 20:27

freitasm: Interesting. They say it's to prevent other network users without a SIM card to use Telecom's network. This makes no sense at all. If there isn't a SIM card, how would Telecom know it's a roaming call?

This is completely wrong...

Very good point