Why are NZ Telcos so stingy with mobile data allowances?

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MaxineN

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#2690883 11-Apr-2021 14:49

Batman:
ajw:

@MaxineN

Yes like Kogan mobile and it's the cheapest deal in NZ.

Is kogan on 2d, VF or Spark?

Vodafone.

5G and VoLTE work just fine on Kogan.

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Hammerer

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#2690884 11-Apr-2021 14:54

KiwiSurfer:

4G/5G can have coverage comparable (if not better) to 2G/3G when you compare services within the same frequency band. Currently 4G coverage is (on purpose) slightly less than 3G due to carriers not wanting pockets of coverage that are 4G only due to some phones not supporting VoLTE. Also previously a lot of 4G deployment were in higher bands (e.g. 1800 MHz) which may have given the incorrect impression 4G can't provide the same level of coverage as 3G/2G. There is no reason 4G it can't be tuned to be better than 3G. A lot of the hype around 5G deployment overseas is with very high frequency bands (mmwave) but there is no reason why it can't be deployed in lower bands such as those used by current 2G/3G/4G services. Currently deployment in NZ is in 3.5 GHz bands which is the reason for the limited coverage, not the NR (5G) technology itself. I am aware of overseas deployment in sub-GHz bands with coverage I assume comparable to current technologies.

That's interesting, thanks. So even with our small land area, we're still likely to be at a disadvantage due to our rugged topography.

sbiddle

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#2690885 11-Apr-2021 14:58

KiwiSurfer:

A lot of the hype around 5G deployment overseas is with very high frequency bands (mmwave) but there is no reason why it can't be deployed in lower bands such as those used by current 2G/3G/4G services. Currently deployment in NZ is in 3.5 GHz bands which is the reason for the limited coverage, not the NR (5G) technology itself. I am aware of overseas deployment in sub-GHz bands with coverage I assume comparable to current technologies.

Just look in the US where T-mobile launched the biggest nationwide 5G network using their 600MHz spectrum and now plenty of people are disabling it because they're encountering speeds worse than their 4G network!

KiwiSurfer

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#2690901 11-Apr-2021 16:32

Reminds me of the early days of 4G 1800 where dual-carrier 3G 850/900 was almost as fast if not faster in some cases. Although probably very location and time dependant!

Dochart

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#2690906 11-Apr-2021 16:50

sbiddle:

KiwiSurfer:

A lot of the hype around 5G deployment overseas is with very high frequency bands (mmwave) but there is no reason why it can't be deployed in lower bands such as those used by current 2G/3G/4G services. Currently deployment in NZ is in 3.5 GHz bands which is the reason for the limited coverage, not the NR (5G) technology itself. I am aware of overseas deployment in sub-GHz bands with coverage I assume comparable to current technologies.

Just look in the US where T-mobile launched the biggest nationwide 5G network using their 600MHz spectrum and now plenty of people are disabling it because they're encountering speeds worse than their 4G network!

https://www.capacitymedia.com/articles/3827775/t-mobile-us-customers-get-better-5g-performance-after-network-switch

Also with 600MHz 5G being slower than their 4g network it may benefit people who may need latency more than speed.

quickymart

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#2690912 11-Apr-2021 17:53

I was on the understanding that 5G cellsites had a far smaller footprint than 3G or 4G - is this not correct?

sbiddle

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#2690915 11-Apr-2021 18:03

quickymart:

I was on the understanding that 5G cellsites had a far smaller footprint than 3G or 4G - is this not correct?

Well the answer is yes and no.

Footprint is really only determined by the RF properties which in turn is determined by the frequency used.

With a few exceptions the main reason a 3.5GHz 5G site has shorter range than say a 900MHz 4G site is because of the frequency, but having said that beamforming characteristics of the antennas used mean that the actual coverage footprint of a 3.5GHz site is probably a lot closer to that of a 2100MHz signal.

ajw

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#2691036 11-Apr-2021 20:07

Batman:
ajw:

@MaxineN

Yes like Kogan mobile and it's the cheapest deal in NZ.

Is kogan on 2d, VF or Spark?

Vodafone.

kitfromoz

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#2732350 21-Jun-2021 22:11

If you ever want to be horrified at mobile prices, go and look at the situation in Canada.

Their prices resemble NZ 15 years ago. Small data caps and expensive rates..

Linux

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#2732551 22-Jun-2021 10:03

kitfromoz:

If you ever want to be horrified at mobile prices, go and look at the situation in Canada.

Their prices resemble NZ 15 years ago. Small data caps and expensive rates..

This ^^^^^^^^^

My cousin is Canada is shocked at how big our data bundles are in NZ and they find the plans are amazing!

halper86

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#2732582 22-Jun-2021 11:18

Linux:

kitfromoz:

If you ever want to be horrified at mobile prices, go and look at the situation in Canada.

Their prices resemble NZ 15 years ago. Small data caps and expensive rates..

This ^^^^^^^^^

My cousin is Canada is shocked at how big our data bundles are in NZ and they find the plans are amazing!

(www.telus.com) NZ$92 for 30GB max speed

(www.bell.ca) NZ$92 for 30GB max speed also

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