3 Mobile slices prices, then Telstra launches $0 iPhone attack!

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Wednesday, 02 July 2008

Page 2 of 4 If there’s one thing that Telstra has over its competitors, it’s the range and speed of the Next G network, and for this it charges the handsomest of pennies, although high prices are always ugly in the eyes of consumers. But when Telstra’s David Moffatt said that the iPhone 3G would be available on “the country's largest and fastest 3G network, providing coverage to 99 percent of the population”, and that “more Australians will enjoy the iPhone 3G experience in even more places,” he was clearly telling the truth, despite the seeming fact the iPhone 3G on its own won’t carry the vaunted “Blue Tick”. That’s because the 850MHz Next G network already covers many rural and regional towns, far beyond the major metropolitan cities, and if you live within or very close to these populated rural and regional areas, Next G reception clearly won’t be a problem. Although Vodafone and Optus also plan to cover many of the same rural and regional areas, a lot of that coverage will happen with 900MHz equipment, which as we know, isn’t supported by the current iPhone 3G. We also know that Optus and Vodafone are planning to install 2100MHz in what are presumably more populated rural and regional areas, but even so, the 850MHz (and 900MHz) frequencies will always provide greater coverage than 2100MHz, which is the reason why it’s being used in the first place. So, Telstra’s David Moffatt hasn’t mislead Australians, but it’s clear that once you go to areas with less Next G coverage which would ordinarily require a “Blue Tick” Next G phone, the iPhone 3G will, at least according to the latest reports, be having reception issues. I’ve actually used a non “Blue Tick” Next G phone 45 mins out of Cairns at a friend’s home, and I needed to find “the right spots” inside, and more successfully outside, to get coverage, although once I did I was able to make phone calls, video calls and even get data at up to 1.5Mbps (at the time, over a year ago). This means that the iPhone 3G will likely work in “Blue Tick” areas in the same manner, but it’s clearly not an optimal situation. The answer could well reside in a protective and signal boosting case from iPod and iPhone accessory manufacturer Griffin called the ClearBoost. Designed to specifically improve the signal on AT&T’s 850MHz network for GSM and EDGE calls, with much less of an effect on other frequencies, the big question is whether or not this case will similarly work with the 850MHz 3.5G HSDPA network. More on this case, and what reviewers have said, along with 3 Mobile’s iPhone prices and plans in Hong Kong – continued on page 3! << First page <   1 2 3 4 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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