Sunday, Nov 20, 2005 at 23:57
Wayne.. From todays Age newspaper - this starts next yr - Telstra says THROW YOUR PHONE AWAY - BAD LUCK!
New mobile? Throw it out, Telstra says
Email Print Normal font Large font By Denis Gregory
November 20, 2005
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AdvertisementTELSTRA'S 8.4 million mobile phone users will need to buy a new handset when the company switches to its proposed new- generation technology, beginning next year.
As part of a major restructure announced last week by Telstra boss Sol Trujillo, Telstra plans to close its present three networks, GSM, or digital, CDMA and the newly launched 3G, and replace them nationally with one system.
Telstra spokesman Rod Bruem said the existing phones, some costing as much as $1000, would not work on the new network and all Telstra customers would need to upgrade.
"We will probably offer deals to our customers to change over and could include the new handsets as part of contract renewals," he said.
"But prices of the new phones should be comparable with the 3G phones in our shops now. We obviously want to hold on to our customers and look after them by minimising any disruptions through the technology change."
Telstra, with 46 per cent of the mobile market, has seven million customers using the standard digital GSM network while 1.4 million, most in the country, are linked to CDMA, which gives better coverage in country areas.
The present 3G network that Telstra introduced only months ago provides high-speed data and video calls to mobiles.
The new system will replace all three networks but will operate on the same frequency as the CDMA system, which means its range should be as good. It will also make use of 80 per cent of existing equipment, including phone towers.
Mr Bruem said it was important to note that the biggest mobile operator in the US, a company called Cingular, had 51 million customers and was moving to the same technology planned by Telstra.
Deals had been done with other big players so that this technology could become the dominant one in the world, and the more customers, the bigger the savings and the more competition from phone manufacturers.
"Telstra has signed a new agreement with a company called BrightStar, which is one of the world's biggest mobile phone sourcing companies, and that will allow us to have the new phones made to suit Australian specifications and the new market," he said.
The new Telstra network will be on a different frequency to that used by Optus and other companies, meaning there will be two separate mobile phone systems, which could result in a need for phones with dual bands.
Mr Bruem said that with all Telstra customers having access to the one network, the company could better focus on filling in black spots.
"But the change will be a gradual process," he said.
"If people buy a new phone today, they should not be concerned about suddenly having to throw it away. The present networks will continue until 2008 and, because most customers upgrade their phones every 18 months, there should not be any worries. But there will be a date when the present phones will cease to work, in the same way the old analogue system was closed down; although unlike analogue, Telstra is not locked in by a mandated government shutdown. This time we will do it in a way that ensures people are not inconvenienced."
Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, a strong advocate of the present CDMA network, said he was deeply concerned about Telstra's proposals, particularly as the replacement low-frequency GSM network was not yet operational in the southern hemisphere.
"Not so fast, Sol, in junking the CDMA mobile freeway, which is able to be upgraded easily to 3G or 4G," he said.
"I accept GSM can also be upgraded but possibly at a bigger cost. We need to flush out the details and we need to see a lot more about the proposed footprint coverage of the new network."
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