700Mhz LTE / Band 28 on 2degrees

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › 700Mhz LTE / Band 28 on 2degrees

pcman2000

83 posts

Master Geek

#215161 15-Jun-2017 02:20

Hey,

Looking into buying phones and I was just wondering whether 2degrees actually uses the 700Mhz spectrum? I've seen conflicting reports on different websites for checking phone compatibility.

I assume that 2degrees doesn't use 700Mhz just because their coverage checker doesn't list any kind of "4G Extended" layer like Spark and Vodafone has. If this is the case, is there a timeframe for 2degrees rolling out 700Mhz on their network? (since I know they own some of the spectrum).

Offtopic question: I have a 2degrees Galaxy S8 and I can't quite tell what the difference is between "4G" and "4G+" in the status bar. I was under the impression this meant it was using LTE-A / Carrier Aggregation however this doesn't make sense since 2degrees doesn't advertise having LTE-A and CA requires multiple LTE bands (and 2degrees only has one). Anecdotally judging by speedtest results there doesn't seem to be a big difference in network speeds (I seem to see ~15-30 Mbits/s everywhere).

DjShadow

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#1801198 15-Jun-2017 03:38

According to gis.geek.nz, 2degrees only have a handful of 700mhz sites in Auckland and Wellington, nothing rural.

The biggest user of Band 28 I believe is Spark.

andrewcnz

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1801203 15-Jun-2017 06:30

A quick search of the Radio spectrum management site shows two degrees have licences for about 100 sites using band 28 (700Mhz). A lot of them are very recent for locations all over the country (urban and rural locations). The next update of the gis.geek site will reflect this.

Linux

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#1801211 15-Jun-2017 08:03

CA does not require different bands as you can also have inband CA which VodafoneNZ runs on band3 1800Mhz as 20Mhz + 5Mhz

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Linux

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#1801215 15-Jun-2017 08:13

Speed will depend on how many Mhz the carrier owns as well and 2Degrees owns the least spectrum as I understand across all bands 700 , 900 , 1800 not sure if they have any in the 2600

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SaltyNZ

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#1801269 15-Jun-2017 09:29

Practically all the sites we have installed over the last 12-18 months have been 700MHz sites.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

tripper1000

1617 posts

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#1804489 21-Jun-2017 10:03

Linux: Speed will depend on how many Mhz the carrier owns as well and 2Degrees owns the least spectrum as I understand across all bands 700 , 900 , 1800 not sure if they have any in the 2600

Linux

2dm has equal share of 1800 MHz (25Mhz each for V.fone, Spark & 2dm), which is the primary LTE urban band used by all 3 companies.

2dm have less 900 Mhz and much less 800Mhz.

700 - It was a conscious decision by 2dm to buy a smaller slice of 700 - they felt their money was better spent on expanding their network coverage and are focusing on urban areas where 700 isn't as useful.

2600 - I believe 2 Degrees has no 2600. Vodafone and Spark having it was more of a happy accident than design - they bought up the spectrum back in the days of WiMax and didn't seem to do much with it - possibly an anti-competitive/blocking move at the time.

2300 - Spark recently acquired a big chunk of 2300 from the remnants of Whoosh so they have the biggest share of spectrum out of all 3 companies.

Linux

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#1804548 21-Jun-2017 11:27

@tripper1000 I am sure 2D is still using some of it's 1800Mhz for 2G and VodafoneNZ is testing in the 3500Mhz range

VodafoneNZ also has 4G live on 10Mhz of 2100Mhz and some 900Mhz

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tripper1000

1617 posts

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#1804568 21-Jun-2017 12:12

Linux:

@tripper1000 I am sure 2D is still using some of it's 1800Mhz for 2G and VodafoneNZ is testing in the 3500Mhz range

VodafoneNZ also has 4G live on 10Mhz of 2100Mhz and some 900Mhz

Linux

I guess in future it will be more common to see LTE on 2100/900/800 as the companies seek to use available spectrum more efficiently and as demand migrates from 3G to 4G.

I wasn't aware 2dm still used any 1800 for GSM - it was the only spectrum available to them in the very early days.

Yeah, re 3500, I see in data heavy places (eg Coromandel holiday hot spots) Spark and VFNZ put LTE on just about any compatible spectrum they can lay their hands on. I guess we'll see more of this with the rising popularity of Fixed Wireless.