Just how much 3G do they have?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Just how much 3G do they have?

richms

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#32602 20-Apr-2009 23:53

When doing a network scan on the phone, I seldom see nzcomms unless I have the phone in dual mode - is this a depressing revelation of their final network or are they leaving the 3g off till they launch? Would be pretty lame if you never get 3g on it.. So lame that they wouldnt be an option as far as I am concerned...

Richard rich.ms

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Snowflake

#208262 21-Apr-2009 00:04

i posted an except from an article in the previous thread that said they had installed some 200+ cellsites out of a planned 400+ sites in the three main centers. whether they are also powered up, or publically broadcasting is another matter... but they havent launched yet and they will probably have to have some sort of roaming agreement so probably best to wait and see whats there when they do actually launch rather than writing them off just yet.

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ajw

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#208386 21-Apr-2009 16:49

richms: When doing a network scan on the phone, I seldom see nzcomms unless I have the phone in dual mode - is this a depressing revelation of their final network or are they leaving the 3g off till they launch? Would be pretty lame if you never get 3g on it.. So lame that they wouldnt be an option as far as I am concerned...

Heaps of 2G signal at my place and plenty of cellsites dotted around the area and good 2G coverage. As I do not have a 3G phone cannot tell you that part of the equation.

ajw

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#208585 22-Apr-2009 16:16

Regs:

i posted an except from an article in the previous thread that said they had installed some 200+ cellsites out of a planned 400+ sites in the three main centers. whether they are also powered up, or publically broadcasting is another matter... but they havent launched yet and they will probably have to have some sort of roaming agreement so probably best to wait and see whats there when they do actually launch rather than writing them off just yet.

Regs here is a link to the article you are refering to.

http://www.istart.co.nz/index/HM20/PC0/PVC197/EX245/AR211872

exportgoldman

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#208608 22-Apr-2009 17:33

I believe that NZComm's cell sites are all 3G enabled, but they have not enabled it because they have to pay millions for the spectrum/3G license for the government.

I believe they will run 2G voice and have very competitive voice network at launch and then take a cold hard look at the returns on paying the government for a 3G license.

Technically It's just a matter of flicking a few virtual switches :)

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

ajw

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#208613 22-Apr-2009 17:41

exportgoldman:
I believe that NZComm's cell sites are all 3G enabled, but they have not enabled it because they have to pay millions for the spectrum/3G license for the government.

I believe they will run 2G voice and have very competitive voice network at launch and then take a cold hard look at the returns on paying the government for a 3G license.

Technically It's just a matter of flicking a few virtual switches :)

Especially as the frequency allocation is 2100 MHZ. The higher the frequency the more cellsites you have to deploy to achieve the same coverage.

richms

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#208710 23-Apr-2009 00:02

Well they are choosing to use their 900 stuff for an obsolete technology, europe has just allowed for umts on 900 so really its a confirmed dead end now. I thought they had some 850 as well or was I mistaken

I guess if you want to attract the $10 text on prepay crowd it doesnt matter, but for the higher ARPU I would have thought that 3g only would have being the way to go.

Richard rich.ms

exportgoldman

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#208738 23-Apr-2009 09:27

richms: I guess if you want to attract the $10 text on prepay crowd it doesnt matter, but for the higher ARPU I would have thought that 3g only would have being the way to go.

Thats what everyone on geekzone believes, but if you look at the numbers, the majority of people use their mobile for....wait for it... Voice Calling and txt messaging.

... And they want those things cheaper, hence the 104% mobile pentration. People have started carrying around two mobiles simply to get cheaper calling and txt.

Now, if you look at the geekzone crowd, they have have 3G smart devices and are busy downloading the latest torrents on them while remote controlling servers...

They arn't pitching for the geekzone demographic... They are pitching to the majority of people which do voice and txt and want a better deal.

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

richms

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#208797 23-Apr-2009 14:17

And those people pay stuff all at the moment, so if they get a better deal they will pay even less.

The business operators with iphones/blackberries etc are paying a hell of a lot more and need the services so are a much better target.

I used to be a fan of NZC starting up since they are not wasting time building a network in the middle of nowhere that I will never use, but untill I can see it all over the place without dropping the phone back to dual mode then its not going to be a viable option for my primary phone. Yeah, I might move some of my seldom used phones to them, the ones on prepay that I just have to maintain a voicemail box with the right greeting on it for business use, but my primary phone needs to be a reliable 3g phone.

Richard rich.ms

openmedia

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#208798 23-Apr-2009 14:36

richms: And those people pay stuff all at the moment, so if they get a better deal they will pay even less.

The business operators with iphones/blackberries etc are paying a hell of a lot more and need the services so are a much better target.

I used to be a fan of NZC starting up since they are not wasting time building a network in the middle of nowhere that I will never use, but untill I can see it all over the place without dropping the phone back to dual mode then its not going to be a viable option for my primary phone. Yeah, I might move some of my seldom used phones to them, the ones on prepay that I just have to maintain a voicemail box with the right greeting on it for business use, but my primary phone needs to be a reliable 3g phone.

Why 3G only?

I've just dropped my new nokia back to 2G only due to poor battery life on Vodafone's 3G network (2 days vs 8 days).

Steve

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

richms

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#208801 23-Apr-2009 14:43

openmedia:
Why 3G only?

I've just dropped my new nokia back to 2G only due to poor battery life on Vodafone's 3G network (2 days vs 8 days).

Steve

2g is too slow for doing anything like checking mail or sending photos, and dual mode missed way too many calls, plus 2g drops the data connection when you get or make a call.

I charge every day and in the car so battery life is a non issue, but I have never seen that sort of variance between them

Richard rich.ms

steveonz

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#208804 23-Apr-2009 14:54

exportgoldman:
richms: I guess if you want to attract the $10 text on prepay crowd it doesnt matter, but for the higher ARPU I would have thought that 3g only would have being the way to go.

Thats what everyone on geekzone believes, but if you look at the numbers, the majority of people use their mobile for....wait for it... Voice Calling and txt messaging.

... And they want those things cheaper, hence the 104% mobile pentration. People have started carrying around two mobiles simply to get cheaper calling and txt.

Now, if you look at the geekzone crowd, they have have 3G smart devices and are busy downloading the latest torrents on them while remote controlling servers...

They arn't pitching for the geekzone demographic... They are pitching to the majority of people which do voice and txt and want a better deal.

Spot on.

3g is nice, but calling my friends is much better than texting them. Most people have phones for Calling, not texting or email... Though, texting has become the mostly used feature.

ajw

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#208818 23-Apr-2009 16:06

We can all summise to the cows come home but until you officially hear it from NZ Comms you don't know what combination they are offering until they launch and the punters see the price plans. All the rest is just rumours.

steveonz

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#208824 23-Apr-2009 16:39

Nobody would spend this much time / effort if it wasnt going to be good!

swine

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#211117 1-May-2009 03:10

They don't neccessarily need a 3G network operational from the beginning do they?

One their network is txt/voice enabled then they have a platform to launch from.

willnz

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#211483 1-May-2009 23:20

NZC have long said they are not looking for high end users, or data users. They're after the el-cheapo users and I guess they're hoping they can bring enough of them over to make it worthwhile.

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