Good 3G signal but unable to call or use data over 3G on one particular tower

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Good 3G signal but unable to call or use data over 3G on one particular tower

Kris89

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#319055 18-Mar-2025 17:15

A family member of mine lives in rural south Auckland. Phone is a Galaxy S7 (yes old I know), which currently has to fall back to 3G for calling.

(I've tried getting voLTE going on it, it was already running latest firmware, but I've also tried the VNZ and XSA CSCs, to no avail, despite seeing reports of users in Aus getting voLTE running on their S7 phones using XSA firmware, so not sure if the firmware is still missing profiles for NZ, or if One is blocking old devices by IMEI or something).

However, as of approximately the weekend of 8th March, the tower that the phone connects to while at home (which is line of sight from their property) no longer works for 3G calls (or 3G data for that matter). Phone shows "Emergency calls only". 3G calls work fine when in town.

I went out there this weekend to test with a different phone etc. My new phone experiences the same symptoms (when I force it to 3G/2G only in settings, to mimic the S7's capabilities), so its not a problem with the phone or the SIM. 4G from the same tower works for data and voLTE, so it appears to be specifically a problem with 3G, on that tower.

I captured the following 3G cell info on my phone while there:

Cell ID is 59977, tower is located on Ridge Rd.

Called 777 while I was there to report a fault, but the support agent was trying to blame the phone and its lack of voLTE, claiming that "there were no faults" at this location (is this just them looking at the public outages webpage?), and repeatedly talking about the 3G to 4G transition, and stating that 3G was already being switched off and that this tower must have had its 3G turned off early. Which sounds like complete nonsense, because a) every public communication and One's own website clearly state that 3G will be turned off on 31 Dec 2025, not gradually between now and 31 Dec 2025, and b) the tower is still broadcasting a 3G signal, that the phone can identify, its just the signal cannot be used for 3G voice (or data).

After 45 mins of back and forward, finally got a ticket number, and was told to expect a response in 24-48 hours, which has now passed, without response, and without 3G service being restored.

I obviously understand the S7 is going to become e-waste at the end of the year, but I'd prefer to upgrade family members according to the published 3G shutdown timeframe, not be forced to buy a new device immediately to work around what appears to be network fault.

Can anyone at One help, or get the network/infra team to take a look at that tower? DM me and I can provide the ticket number if necessary (but all the relevant nonpersonal info is above, no idea how accurately the agent recorded the specifics).

Thanks

MaxineN

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#3354898 18-Mar-2025 17:40

Ex one NZ.

Cell could be sleeping(fault) but it also could be locked off due to the impending shutdown(not a fault)

VNZ would be the only supported CSC but it never got VoLTE so out of luck. Officially speaking, only the s9 and the plus (note 8 as well) got VoLTE.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

Kris89

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#3354953 18-Mar-2025 18:18

MaxineN:

Cell could be sleeping(fault) but it also could be locked off due to the impending shutdown(not a fault)

Locked off? What does that mean - that it doesn't accept connections from IMEI/IMSI's that it hasn't recently talked to (or that aren't whitelisted)? Because family members phone would have been be registered with this tower every day for years. Or if it means no-one can connect, why not just turn off the 3G signal completely (at least then affected phones would be able to try and find another tower)?

Regardless, there has not been any communication ahead of time that certain towers will lose 3G prior to 31 Dec 2025.

MaxineN

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#3354967 18-Mar-2025 18:40

Locked off = not allowed on the technology layer period, in this case, UMTS 900mhz. No IMEI blocking unless the handset was marked as lost, stolen, damaged etc etc(not the case as you say it works in town).

Couldn't tell you why it was locked off, not my place to say and as well that's behind some red tape.

As for communication. That would be a big task but also the % would be very small. It's been emailed, marketed, tweeted, facebooked many times that 3G is going to shut down.

Ridge Road, that LAC is for Pokeno so we're talking about the Pokeno site.

Again to make it very clear in the two posts I've made here. I am not suggesting either is the exact cause, I am simply outlying the two possibilities. You'll have to wait until someone in SAT comes back. If it's locked off, it's locked off, probably can't unlock it immediately. If it's faulty(sleeping), then it's a simple cell reset (after hours).

But I hope this has shed some clarity as to why.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

RunningMan

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#3354972 18-Mar-2025 18:46

MaxineN: [snip]As for communication. That would be a big task but also the % would be very small. It's been emailed, marketed, tweeted, facebooked many times that 3G is going to shut down.

All that communication across the various platforms has a specified date for 3G shutdown though, which has not yet passed. The comms that have come out certainly imply a specific shutdown date as opposed to a staggered removal one site at a time.

MaxineN

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#3354973 18-Mar-2025 18:47

RunningMan:

MaxineN: [snip]As for communication. That would be a big task but also the % would be very small. It's been emailed, marketed, tweeted, facebooked many times that 3G is going to shut down.

All that communication across the various platforms has a specified date for 3G shutdown though, which has not yet passed. The comms that have come out certainly imply a specific shutdown date as opposed to a staggered removal one site at a time.

To be fair... nobody's noticed Pukekohe has very limited U900 coverage ;) for well over a year. Neither here or there however, I do think this could be something that COULD be communicated. Not my place, nor was it my place back when I did wear that hat.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

Kris89

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#3355623 20-Mar-2025 13:48

Just heard back from someone at One who had a much better understanding of the problem than the original support agent, and is going to pass it on to the radio network team to investigate.