DonGould:

johnr: Your asking them how long it's going to take to fix something that is not even broken!

Again, I did try to suggest that it's not entirely a 'fault'.  I fully agree that if I take my Telecom XT phone to the middle of Australia where there is no mobile coverage at all, it's hardly fair to say the handset is 'faulty' now it is?

In this instance I choose the word 'fix' because my phone simply wouldn't connect to anything, not 2Deg, not VF, not Telecom - nothing.  It just dropped all the networks and gave up trying.

But the question for discussion is about the time frame it would be reasonable to expect the telcos to take to sort this problem out, even if their answer is simply to say "Hey, we'll never provide coverage there, just go find a different telco if you want to use a phone at that location".


Interestingly, so far I'm finding the speculation of GZ users quite interesting.

ps: jr - have you read your pm's tonight? :)

NonprayingMantis: how about I answer your OP question with another question

How long does it take a farmer to decide that although his provider is cheap, they are also unable to provide him with service and therefore he would be better switching back to the provider he knows provides coverage?

f the problem is lack of coverage, and the upgrades aren't already in plan, then 2D has to go through weeks, if not months, of business casing, resource consent applications, etc etc.

the farmer only has to visit a store and switch providers to one he knows works.

DonGould:

Foo: Interesting discussion and while I don't really have an opinion on how soon/how likely the issue being resolved would take, I do wonder:

a) what is the reception like using other phones with the same sim card?
b) do the other networks provide better cellular coverage?

a - don't know. (see response to Johnr above)
b - yes - VF provide full sig at the same location on a different handset

DonGould:

johnr: First off does your SIM work in other handset in this location OK?

No idea sorry.  That is not something that was suggested 6 weeks ago when the issue first came up, so not something I tested in attempting to address the issue.

However, it's also not really the point of the thread.

The point of the thread is to answer the questions I presented at face value:

"How long does it take a mobile company to fix coverage on a farm?"

"How long has this sort of issue taken your mobile provider to fix in the past?"

"What's reasonable in this day and age given we're dealing with modern, smaller lighter, newer technology?"

:)

DonGould:

johnr:  So when you were at the farm why did you not try your 2degrees SIM in another handset?

Far to bone idle and lazy to do that... 

Care factor for having the phone working was very low. 

My concern was the 16 holes that had to be drilled in the new skids for the helicopter.

richms: So does another phone on the same 2 degrees sim card in the same location (make sure its also a 3g 900MHz capable phone) suffer the same issue with not getting onto either network?

richms: Till you have tried that, I am not certain that there is anything for 2 degrees to even look at, as I have heard from other people that have managed to get their andriod handsets into a state where they had no network connection till powercycled.

keewee01: Actually - it was suggested 6 weeks ago

DonGould:

johnr:  So when you were at the farm why did you not try your 2degrees SIM in another handset?

Far to bone idle and lazy to do that... 

Care factor for having the phone working was very low. 

My concern was the 16 holes that had to be drilled in the new skids for the helicopter.

johnr: Don people have tired to help you and give you some basic fault checking tips now your just taking the pi$$ and wasting everyone's time

DonGould: In this instance I was simply putting a question out for discussion, asking for speculation on how long it might take to get something done.

 Hummm :) Again, this thread really isn't about 'how Don can fix his problem' it's about "how long would YOU expect a telco (any telco) to fix the problem'.