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

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#2599102 6-Nov-2020 15:33

I take it from reading all of the above discussion that unless I have an recent iPhone or Samsung purchased from my carrier it's unlikely that I'll ever get VoLTE or VoWiFi even though I can see both menus grayed out on my Motorola phone. I am going to buy a new phone in the next 6 months but it won't be an iPhone or Samsung.

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Old3eyes

Starlith

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#2599108 6-Nov-2020 15:44

My Sony Xperia XZ1 has had this feature since release but its all up to the carriers to do nothing about it because its 'not a carrier purchased model'. I blame Google for this just as much as the carriers.

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#2599109 6-Nov-2020 15:45

antonknee:

So why would it not simply drop back to 3G (if available)? If I recall correctly it used to be my iPhone would drop back to 3G to complete a voice call while in 4G coverage.

in the OP's case, they are in an area that had little to no 3G coverage, a new 4G only RCG tower has been built and they don't have VoLTE on their device.

so what happens is customer takes out their phone, goes oh i have signal i need to call bob!

they dial the number, phone doesn't have VoLTE, so tries to drop back to 3G and it isn't available - call doesn't connect.

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hio77

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#2599112 6-Nov-2020 15:50

Starlith:

My Sony Xperia XZ1 has had this feature since release but its all up to the carriers to do nothing about it because its 'not a carrier purchased model'. I blame Google for this just as much as the carriers.

really should be a supported configuration sent out from the carrier itself in the SIB. same goes for carrier aggregation etc.

there were standards discussed for it, i'm not sure if they ever were fully ratified or not though.. Honestly it's something that should have been 100% enforced for 5G.

until that happens though.. some vendors (like sony) will do a default, other providers will provide a pretty basic configuration - normally 2CA no VoLTE/VoWiFi.

I'm sure the providers device and device testing teams will still work on getting these right, but i don't really see a major drive within the NZ industry to have configurations outside of Samsung and Apple (in NZ it is literally like 80-90% marketshare.....)

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shk292

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#2599174 6-Nov-2020 16:47

Presumably, if you live in such an area and don't want to shell out on a new phone, installing Skype and using skype-out or viber etc would plug the gap.

mudguard

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#2599201 6-Nov-2020 17:44

Would this analogy be close? Someone see's Auckland's Northern Busway lanes beside the motorway. Goes and buys a car, and is annoyed they're not allowed on the bus lanes?

hio77

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#2599203 6-Nov-2020 17:48

mudguard:
Would this analogy be close? Someone see's Auckland's Northern Busway lanes beside the motorway. Goes and buys a car, and is annoyed they're not allowed on the bus lanes?

Your implying people in Auckland don't go off in bus lanes already?

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BlinkyBill

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#2599205 6-Nov-2020 17:52

mudguard:

Would this analogy be close? Someone see's Auckland's Northern Busway lanes beside the motorway. Goes and buys a car, and is annoyed they're not allowed on the bus lanes?

Pretty close I reckon, with the additional aspect that they complain and petition to be allowed to use the bus lane because they own a car and not a bus.

mudguard

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#2599217 6-Nov-2020 18:20

hio77:

Your implying people in Auckland don't go off in bus lanes already?

Well I haven't seen anyone using the purpose built one, would take some doing to get your car in there!

sdavisnz

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#2599373 7-Nov-2020 08:24

Samsung have a volte compatible phone for $200.

Its not unobtainable tech at this point.

Some people just need to bite the bullet and replace their old handset.

Voice gives context

ajw

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#2599444 7-Nov-2020 11:41

I'm surprised that NZ mobile operators haven't insisted that all mobile devices sold have to be VOLTE capable. It is only a matter of time and 3G will be switched off. I note in the US all phones sold are VOLTE and wifi calling capable.

ajw

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#2599454 7-Nov-2020 12:03

hio77:

antonknee:

So why would it not simply drop back to 3G (if available)? If I recall correctly it used to be my iPhone would drop back to 3G to complete a voice call while in 4G coverage.

in the OP's case, they are in an area that had little to no 3G coverage, a new 4G only RCG tower has been built and they don't have VoLTE on their device.

so what happens is customer takes out their phone, goes oh i have signal i need to call bob!

they dial the number, phone doesn't have VoLTE, so tries to drop back to 3G and it isn't available - call doesn't connect.

Use Viber or Whatsapp on the old handset. Only a matter of time until 3G is switched off.

Lias

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#2599542 7-Nov-2020 15:50

I think too many people are living in telco/tech enthusiast world around here, the public wouldn't have a clue about this stuff and are not going to happy if/when they find out the hard way. Telecom took 3 odd years to shut down the 025 network, spent god only knows how much advertising they were doing it and trying to perusuade people to move, and still had 20000+ active connections on it when they pulled the plug. I'd expect there to be years of widespread notice before 3g goes away, yet here we effectively have the Telco's trying to do it by stealth.

Joe Blow can walk into a PBTech today, and purchase a 2020 released, $1500+ phone that isn't on the VoLTE supported list of any of the major Telco's. That's a big problem for them, that they need to do something about and if they don't it could end up the biggest Telco PR disaster since the XT launch..

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sbiddle

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#2599545 7-Nov-2020 16:01

Lias:

Joe Blow can walk into a PBTech today, and purchase a 2020 released, $1500+ phone that isn't on the VoLTE supported list of any of the major Telco's. That's a big problem for them, that they need to do something about and if they don't it could end up the biggest Telco PR disaster since the XT launch..

How is this a telco disaster?

Can you give an example of a $1500+ phone that doesn't support VoLTE? The vast majority of phones in this category are Apple, Oppo and Samsung and they all support VoLTE.

I just don't see this as being anywhere near the big issue you're making it out to be - the platform was designed this way on purpose.

BlinkyBill

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#2599567 7-Nov-2020 17:19

Lias:

I ...

Joe Blow can walk into a PBTech today, and purchase a 2020 released, $1500+ phone that isn't on the VoLTE supported list of any of the major Telco's. That's a big problem for them, that they need to do something about and if they don't it could end up the biggest Telco PR disaster since the XT launch..

Can confirm that every single >$1,500 phone currently on sale at PBTECH supports VoLTE. It’s useful to use actual facts - the Trump technique has been proven to not work.

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