3g data - no way a fixed line substitute

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Posted Fri 27 February 2009 @ 6:50 a.m. by Ernie Newman

I've been a conference junkie this week. With the focus on fibre, several times the matter of 3g mobile substitutability has arisen. I got a chuckle from one audience when I suggested that the focus on fibre gives the mobile guys "fears of inadequacy, and self-doubt."

But these last 12 hours I've personally experienced a timely reminder that 3g data is light-years away from the reliability and speed of a fixed line.

My WorldXChange home line is out of action - another story. So last night and again this morning I've been trying to use the TUANZ VPN with my Vodafone 3g data card, which I keep as a backup. I'm not far away from a 3g site at Silverdale on the Hibiscus Coast.

But last night I just couldn't work. Key strokes took several seconds to appear on the screen, refreshes took up to a minute, and several times I was dumped off the network.

So I tried again at 6am - not exactly peak time, even to us hard working Aucklanders. Same outcome.

I'm a great fan of wireless, but in its place. As a top-end service for high value applications where mobility is worth a premium and bandwidth is not critical, its worth its weight in gold. But the proposition that 3g dg data is a viable alternative to a good quality fixed service is way, way, way ahead of its time.

Categories: TUANZ policy | Wireless carriers

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2 comments

  • Jono says:

    I know you've said positive things about WorldXChange in the past but I have to say I switched away from them recently with reliability being one of the primary motivating factors - outages seemed much to frequent for my liking. I'm with Orcon now and have not had any downtime (that I've noticed) and consistently get download speeds several times faster than what I was getting.

    Added: 27 February 2009, 10:24 a.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

  • Alan says:

    Paul is this your substitute for 21ST century broadband. Perhaps a good dose of bandwidth to this cellsite will get things working again. Consumers will have a choice from June as HSDPA will also be available from Telecom at double the speed as is currently offered by Vodafone.

    Added: 1 March 2009, 7:35 p.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive
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