3G CDMA Replacement

[Ext User(MJT)]

The battery on my 2280 CDMA may be dying. Rather than spending say, $40
on a battery I am considering my options regarding 3G. Seeing as it's
going to replace CDMA, I am wondering if it'd be worthwhile to upgrade
to 3G now, or wait.

But my concern is mostly about what sort of coverage that 3G has now,
particularly in rural Victoria.

If it's non existant, then the answer is obvious.

Are there any sites around that shows what systems cover what? There
used to be ones for CDMA and GSM but I can't seem to find them.

What would be a good basic low end or entry level 3G phone that I can
use with my existing Nokia CARK-126 based car kit, if any.



--
First things first, but not necessarily in that order.

[Ext User(John Henderson)]

MJT wrote:

> The battery on my 2280 CDMA may be dying. Rather than spending
> say, $40 on a battery I am considering my options regarding
> 3G. Seeing as it's going to replace CDMA, I am wondering if
> it'd be worthwhile to upgrade to 3G now, or wait.
>
> But my concern is mostly about what sort of coverage that 3G
> has now, particularly in rural Victoria.
>
> If it's non existant, then the answer is obvious.

3G UMTS will be a viable replacement for CDMA, rural coverage
wise, only when there're both 850 MHz band cells in use, and
dual-band UMTS phones available. Both of these are in the
future.

John

> Are there any sites around that shows what systems cover what?
> There used to be ones for CDMA and GSM but I can't seem to
> find them.
>
> What would be a good basic low end or entry level 3G phone
> that I can use with my existing Nokia CARK-126 based car kit,
> if any.

[Ext User(Michael)]

"MJT" <mjpt57@yahoo.com.com.au> wrote in message
news:43dbd2a1.00002f11.bm005@yahoo.com.com.au...
> The battery on my 2280 CDMA may be dying. Rather than spending say, $40
> on a battery I am considering my options regarding 3G. Seeing as it's
> going to replace CDMA, I am wondering if it'd be worthwhile to upgrade
> to 3G now, or wait.
>

Just go out and buy another CDMA phone

[Ext User(Simon Templar)]

MJT wrote:
> The battery on my 2280 CDMA may be dying. Rather than spending say, $40
> on a battery I am considering my options regarding 3G. Seeing as it's
> going to replace CDMA, I am wondering if it'd be worthwhile to upgrade
> to 3G now, or wait.
>
> But my concern is mostly about what sort of coverage that 3G has now,
> particularly in rural Victoria.
>
> If it's non existant, then the answer is obvious.
>
> Are there any sites around that shows what systems cover what? There
> used to be ones for CDMA and GSM but I can't seem to find them.
>
> What would be a good basic low end or entry level 3G phone that I can
> use with my existing Nokia CARK-126 based car kit, if any.

There is NO 3G coverage outside of Metropolitan Melbourne and Geelong
that I am aware of at this time.


--
73 de Simon, VK3XEM.

[Ext User(A User)]

On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:25:22 +1100, Simon Templar <usenet@vk3xem.net>
wrote:

>MJT wrote:
>> The battery on my 2280 CDMA may be dying. Rather than spending say, $40
>> on a battery I am considering my options regarding 3G. Seeing as it's
>> going to replace CDMA, I am wondering if it'd be worthwhile to upgrade
>> to 3G now, or wait.
>>
>> But my concern is mostly about what sort of coverage that 3G has now,
>> particularly in rural Victoria.
>>
>> If it's non existant, then the answer is obvious.
>>
>> Are there any sites around that shows what systems cover what? There
>> used to be ones for CDMA and GSM but I can't seem to find them.
>>
>> What would be a good basic low end or entry level 3G phone that I can
>> use with my existing Nokia CARK-126 based car kit, if any.
>
>There is NO 3G coverage outside of Metropolitan Melbourne and Geelong
>that I am aware of at this time.

The 3G that Telstra is proposing is 850mhz 3G.

This is NOT compatible with currently available 3G handsets anyway. If
you got a current 3G handset, it would still work on the 2.5G network
as it is, now.

[Ext User(googlegroups@sensation.net.au)]

MJT wrote:
> But my concern is mostly about what sort of coverage that 3G has now,
> particularly in rural Victoria.

I recently purchased a new mobile and was told that outside of metro
areas you're unlikely to get 3G coverage with any network at the
moment. (I'm located on the fringes of the Melbourne metro area and
Optus and 3's coverage ends about 10km towards the city...)

Since 3G falls back to 2.5G GSM (I think?) when outside of the 3G
network you may find that coverage and quality is worse than your
existing CDMA service.

[Ext User(quietguy)]

While I am not an expert Simon, I gather that there is 3G coverage in both
Sydney and Canberra

David

Simon Templar wrote:

>
> There is NO 3G coverage outside of Metropolitan Melbourne and Geelong
> that I am aware of at this time.
>
> --
> 73 de Simon, VK3XEM.

[Ext User(Simon Templar)]

quietguy wrote:
> While I am not an expert Simon, I gather that there is 3G coverage in both
> Sydney and Canberra
>
> David

Yes you are correct, but my reply was regarding coverage in Victoria.


--
The views I present are that of my own and NOT of any organisation I may
belong to.

73 de Simon, VK3XEM.