NZ Government spends $115 million on 450 new cell towers useless to thousands of mobile devices

Forums › New Zealand Mobile and Wireless › NZ Government spends $115 million on 450 new cell towers useless to thousands of mobile devices

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ... | 13

28172 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2598425 5-Nov-2020 19:21

They bring data to areas that otherwise would not have it. How is that a failure. Voice is an optional addon with LTE that not all devices will support. No big deal if you choose a device that doesnt support it, you dont get it.

Richard rich.ms

jjnz1

1358 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2598480 5-Nov-2020 19:51

A few things in my head...

First:
Fact: Your non VoLTE 4G phone will drop down to a 3G signal for voice - unless there is no 3G/2G coverage.

Issue: If you have no 3G or 2G coverage (or reliable coverage) then yes you would have this issue. Calls would fail as your phone cannot see a valid voice network. IMO The provider should advise you via text that you are on the fringes of coverage using a non VoLTE phone where voice services may not work

Second:
Fact: imported phones that are not enabled to have VoLTE on a NZ provider, effectively do not have VoLTE capabilities. They fall under the first fact above

Issue: VoLTE is a premium feature available to select phones unfortunately. This is a user issue if they want this feature.

Third:
Fact: your phone is capable of dialing 111 via any NZ carrier regardless of what sim card is installed

But again if you don't have any/reliable 3G/2G you would have calls failing.

The worst thing to happen is that 4G coverage that extends past 2G/3G coverage will get turned off/dialed down. I would rather see some kind of user education.

jjnz1

1358 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2598483 5-Nov-2020 19:59

Also from memory, when your phone is connected to a 4G network, your phone can only see other 4G neighbouring towers (if any) and not 3G, so hand off cannot occur/is not instant.

So an educated guess if your phone needs to use voice and their is no voice capability on the 4G network that your phone can see, it will start hunting for 3G/2G towers. This would be difficult if 3G or 2G signal is weak. Hence why your voice fails.

I have a solution for you! If your with vodafone, install a Suresignal at your house. Instant 3G full bars.

Lias

5589 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2598491 5-Nov-2020 20:26

sbiddle:

Quite simply it's not that simple.

Would it be feasible to deploy a single companies 2g/3g ear into each tower and just allow roaming on those towers? It seems kind of silly to build new cellphone towers that only support the sort of handsets that a small percentage of the population use. Hardly anyone I know outside of tech enthusiats has a VoLTE phone.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup.

Eva888

2429 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2598494 5-Nov-2020 20:48

jjnz1: Also from memory, when your phone is connected to a 4G network, your phone can only see other 4G neighbouring towers (if any) and not 3G, so hand off cannot occur/is not instant.

So an educated guess if your phone needs to use voice and their is no voice capability on the 4G network that your phone can see, it will start hunting for 3G/2G towers. This would be difficult if 3G or 2G signal is weak. Hence why your voice fails.

I have a solution for you! If your with vodafone, install a Suresignal at your house. Instant 3G full bars.

Suresignal is no longer available but Vodafone support it if you already have it.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#2598508 5-Nov-2020 20:59

Lias:

It seems kind of silly to build new cellphone towers that only support the sort of handsets that a small percentage of the population use. Hardly anyone I know outside of tech enthusiats has a VoLTE phone.

That truly is a ridiculous comment - the simple reality is iOS + Samsung devices make up around 70 - 75% of the market for mobile phones in NZ with Apple around 40 - 45% and Samsung around 25% - 30% depending on who's stats you want to believe.

Every iPhone after the iPhone6 has VoLTE so that's probably an instant 30% minimum of the market already. All recent Samsung devices in recent years also support VoLTE. I'd take a totally random guess (I don't know the true figure) and pick that somewhere between maybe 40% or maybe even slightly higher of mobile devices out there in NZ right now are VoLTE capable.

antoniosk

2358 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2598515 5-Nov-2020 21:10

sbiddle:

Lias:

It seems kind of silly to build new cellphone towers that only support the sort of handsets that a small percentage of the population use. Hardly anyone I know outside of tech enthusiats has a VoLTE phone.

That truly is a ridiculous comment - the simple reality is iOS + Samsung devices make up around 70 - 75% of the market for mobile phones in NZ with Apple around 40 - 45% and Samsung around 25% - 30% depending on who's stats you want to believe.

Every iPhone after the iPhone6 has VoLTE so that's probably an instant 30% minimum of the market already. All recent Samsung devices in recent years also support VoLTE. I'd take a totally random guess (I don't know the true figure) and pick that somewhere between maybe 40% or maybe even slightly higher of mobile devices out there in NZ right now are VoLTE capable.

yep. And while volte is an early adopter tech right now, a carrier update will default it to on meaning all those phones will just work. Once the tech is stable. And widespread.

________

Antoniosk

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

zenourn

271 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2598520 5-Nov-2020 21:22

I have a client on the West Coast on the South Island where one of these towers gave coverage when previously there was nothing. I'd way prefer to have them than not have them, have been trying to get coverage there for 20 years.

I've found VoLTE to work with iPhones without issue, however more of a mixed bag on Android. Even buying Android phones marked as supporting VoLTE directly from Spark didn't work in several cases, and Spark help desk couldn't offer much help. Has been improving though.

Linux

11413 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2598528 5-Nov-2020 22:02

Eva888:
jjnz1: Also from memory, when your phone is connected to a 4G network, your phone can only see other 4G neighbouring towers (if any) and not 3G, so hand off cannot occur/is not instant.

So an educated guess if your phone needs to use voice and their is no voice capability on the 4G network that your phone can see, it will start hunting for 3G/2G towers. This would be difficult if 3G or 2G signal is weak. Hence why your voice fails.

I have a solution for you! If your with vodafone, install a Suresignal at your house. Instant 3G full bars.

Suresignal is no longer available but Vodafone support it if you already have it.

@Eva888 Sure Signal will be turned off in the next 12 months and this will be replaced by Wi-Fi calling (launching soon)

jjnz1

1358 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2598532 5-Nov-2020 22:10

Sure signal is not available through retail channels but VF do keep limited stock.

Regardless, trademe has these units pop up all the time.

@linux do you know this for sure?

Linux

11413 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2598590 5-Nov-2020 22:13

jjnz1: Sure signal is not available through retail channels but VF do keep limited stock.

Regardless, trademe has these units pop up all the time.

@linux do you know this for sure?

@jjnz1 Know what for sure? That Sure Signal is EOL or Wi-Fi calling is coming?

Linux

11413 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2598595 5-Nov-2020 22:20

Sure Signal uses 5Mhz of 2100Mhz and is far better used on the mobile network than just for Sure Signal

Wi-Fi calling and Sure Signal only both require a broadband connection

jjnz1

1358 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2598596 5-Nov-2020 22:21

Currently active sure signal devices will stop within 12 months? When wifi calling happens?

Back to this thread - wifi calling is very similar to VoLTE in that mostly only premium phones have this capability I am assuming. Also will imported phones allow wifi calling on VF - I assume not.

quickymart

13932 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2598606 5-Nov-2020 23:07

zenourn:

I have a client on the West Coast on the South Island where one of these towers gave coverage when previously there was nothing. I'd way prefer to have them than not have them, have been trying to get coverage there for 20 years.

Where was this specifically? (just out of interest, I'm from that area).

Eva888

2429 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2598711 6-Nov-2020 08:23

@Linux I saw this they no longer supply them on Vodafone website.

https://www.vodafone.co.nz/mobile/3g-sure-signal/

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ... | 13