My mobile is a 3G with Telstra. I don't go for all the gadgets etc. As long as I can ring, txt and take photos, thats all I want. There are so many places that are without coverage its not funny any more.
I drive from Echuca to Geelong regularly and go the Castlemaine, Daylesford way. I find a major part of that area has no coverage.
Also travelling on the Newell from Vic to Qld. I have the same problem. In this day and age of modern technology there should be no area left wtihout coverage anymore.

Hylda&Jon wrote:

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There is Telstra, Optus & Vodophone 3G networks  & there is Telstra Next G. 3G is only good in city's & decent size towns. Telstra Next G's coverage is the only one that gives good coverage throughout Australia. There is no comparison.

Cheers
Jon

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I agree wholeheartedly with H & J! If you are going "bush" dont bother with any other network.

I wonder if this will be a bit of a problem inasmuch as Telstra doesnt have any competition.

 

As I am looking for a new phone for management, I will be interested in what people have to say. She has an Optus atm (daughters old phone) and it does not work out side of our own postcode.

I wonder if this will be a bit of a problem inasmuch as Telstra doesnt have any competition.

 

 

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Hi ...

What do you mean to say?

 

IMO ..

At the moment Telstra does have competition but the other Telcos just choose to 'cherry pick' and offer service only where there is likely to be good profit for minimal capital outlay.

Of course other Telco's are required to input dollars to help meet this 'community obligation' to provide 'universal service' that Telstra is saddled with.

Telstra has long disputed that the amount contributed is sufficient  ... & that costs the Telstra shareholders to subsidise this 'universal service'.

 

With NBN I believe that the 'universal service' obligation transfers to the NBN.

 

Telstra may then be like all the other telcos & may choose to provide service or not.

 

Makes an interesting situation doesn't it?

 

It seems to me that if successive Australian Govts acted like for example, the Singapore Govt & actively supported its national carrier (theirs trades as Optus in Aussie)  then we would be likely to have a far stronger international Aiussie Telco.  In Australia we seem hel bent on pulling down our national carrier to help the off shore ones and/or the bottom feeding  'cherry pickers'.

 

 

(I feel better now that I've got that off my chest.)

 

kind regards .. Graham

 

 

I switched to a Telstra Next G a couple of years ago on the advise of long time travellers, sister & hubby.

At a big family reunion out in woop woop in June, only those who had Next G, got coverage there.

My only complaint..which was my own fault..is that I bought a Samsung mobile. It's unnecessarily complicated! Give me back my simple Nokia any time! (Except that I dropped it on the driveway and smashed it!  )

Dear Happywanderer'

Firstly I was quite surprised by your poor results in Telstra reception when travelling  up to Echuca by way of Daylesford, I do not have phone tower locations for "T", but I can assure you that I will do more research and try to pinpoint what could be happening.

For those travelling same direction with Optus they have established new towers that may assist in that area: 2009 Keilor, Trentham, Creswick, Riddels Creek. 2010 Newstead, Mt Macedon central, Gisbourne Central, Huntly, Lockington.

Please provide model name of your phone, I promise to check out phone specs & report back, many thanks for such positive feedback. 

-- Edited by hannivers on Sunday 26th of December 2010 09:45:01 PM

Now I hear what you are all saying' but are you sure that your phones are 3G, NextG or whatever? Please read up on your particular phone specs, do not believe some phone sales people, do your own research. I have several mobiles with various sims and do see Telstra having real competition in many regions. Many thanks for great feedback. 

Anyone just using a pre paid phone whilst travelling?

Most of the cheaper ones are only 2G, possibly the cheapest 3G could be $79 plus or therabouts, I recommend purchasing what they call "outright or unlocked phones when using the pre paid - re chargable phones because if your not happy you can easily switch to another carrier.  My wife was quite happy with just a 2G phone, it's a Huawei G6600D from Dick Smith, it's a great little text machine, I have 2 sims from 2different providers installed in it, it auto selects & answers either sim, she loves it. But it is only a 2G unit which is all that she requires.

For many people a 2G will be good enough, some $29 phones are superb, but for those travelling far from home please consider a 3G. 

Hi Happy wanderer

I have 3G phone, it works fine in Canberra but I get no coverage in Yarrawonga

Thats what I find ChiChi, ok while right in town. In between towns nothing. And on the Newell most towns are at least 100ks apart. I would not want to break down in one of those long stretches.

Now back to 3G, this is not a brand, it is a mobile phone network, nowadays  it is usually: UMTS 900 Mhz / UMTS 2100 Mhz

Many Chinese mobile phone producers may claim that a particular phone will work inside the 3G network, sure it might do that, but as a 2G phone.

Telstra NextG-UMTS 850Mhz-Metro & Regional

Telstra 3G-UMTS 2100 Mhz-Metro only

Optus YesG-UMTS 900 / 2100 Mhz-Metro & Regional

Optus 3G-UMTS 2100 Mhz-Metro only

Vodaphone 3G-UMTS 2100 Mhz-Metro & some Regional

Vodaphone 3G-UMTS 900 Mhz-Some smaller Regional

3 (Hutchinson)-UMTS 2100 Mhz-Metro only

Please check specs to see if your mobile is really a 3G unit.





-- Edited by hannivers on Monday 27th of December 2010 12:29:45 AM

hannivers wrote:

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Dear Hylda&Jon

Have you checked out the recent 3G coverage maps and viewed just how many new towers have been created to assist in better 3G coverage by various providers?

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We don't need to check the maps, we have been on the road 24/7 for well over a year now, I have a Telstra 3G phone & my partner has an Optus 3G phone so, although we havn't covered all of Australia yet by a long shot, of the areas that we have covered both our phones have been useless way too much of the time of the time. Thankfully we have Next G internet which we seldom don't have so we can skype phone when we need to.

Cheers
Jon

 

Go away from any population centres and optus, vodaphone dodo, etc don,t work. Its as sinple as that. Hannivers- do you work for optus or something?The truth is their coverage is not great away from towns, and while cheaper, is not reliable.I would love cheaper phone calls and broadband, but The coverage must be there.

Can someone clarify this for me...

I presume the term 2G just refers to the older GSM network that is often referred to (colloquially) as just "digital" as distinct from 3G (or Telstra "Next G") and the older obsolete CDMA and Analogue networks?

(yes, I know that 3G and the now defunct CDMA are technically digital too)

When I upgraded from CDMA to 3G it was prior to the "blue tick" being introduced but the sales person I dealt with was able to identify those phones that were suitable for fringe areas and those that weren't.

Also, and I stand to be corrected here, but it's my understanding that the unused frequency bands on some phones may be useful to have if planning to use the phone overseas.

By the way, hannivers, I suggest you remove your phone number and email from your original post in the interest of your own privacy. Forum members can contact each other by PM (private message) and can exchange contact details if they so wish. Unfortunately spammers and "phishers" can trawl these forums to harvest addresses and phone numbers. It's your decision.

You can send a PM to Webmaster (Cindy) to do this for you if you are unable to edit it yourself.

Welcome to the forum,

Jim