What is happening with CDMA & 3G CDMA?

As far as I know Telstra has only "canned" the roll out of High Speed Broadband Hard wired network.

Last I heard was that the 3g network will happen from 2008.

Im in the same boat, the old Kyocera 3245 has seen better days, well the battery has and the games are boring ;) Not sure if its worth buying a new battery or not...

What phones are other people using now or has anyone upgraded to CDMA still?

I want a phone thats a phone - like a 5110 they were bullet proof, not 4billion other electronic scams to make money out of you!

Oldpodder,
not sure where you got the term "3G CDMA". 3G is for video calling, etc and is part of the GSM network. You may be confused as Telstra is sending out offers the current CDMA customers to move to 3G. I did a check and found this 3G has less coverage than GSM.

I work in Canungra in the Gold Coast hinterland. Here you can get GSM and certainly get CDMA. You do not get 3G, which leads me to believe it is not CDMA or have anything to do with CDMA. Below is an extract from the Telstra website about 3G.

"3G typically supports customers who:

want access to video calling and associated services* higher data rates

With a 3G phone you can also access Telstra's GSM network.

3G coverage is in selected areas, to check coverage at a location go to Our Coverage.

* For mobile to mobile video calling, both you and the person you are video calling must have a 3G compatible phone and be in a 3G coverage area. For mobile to PC video calling, the PC user must have a web camera, an eligible personal computer connected to the Internet and be a registered user for the service.

I think this sort of question should be directed to a telecommunications provider, such as Telstra, rather than get the hearsay opinion from a forum.

3G is still on track for 2007 / 08. As was said only the fibre optic broadband was canned. Even if you got another cdma phone it will continue to work on the 3g network. At least in the short term. My son has just signed up with cdma as his job is in a cdma area. Telstra told him that he will be able to use his new phone until the end of his contract but if for any reason that doesnt happen then they will work out a deal to switch phones to the 3g network. So I think you would be covered anyway.

Peter

If you want to get a phone NOW that will have reasonable coverage in remote areas, you have NO CHOICE OTHER THAN CDMA.

Telstra's New National 3G Mobile Network
Site Link

The confusion is because there is an existing 3G network on 2.1 GHz which will only ever be available in Metro areas.

The new 3G network - 3GSM or 3G850 - will operate in the same frequency as CDMA and Analogue - so we and Telstra can re-use existing CDMA antennas.

The benefits of 3G850 are that a single national netwrk can be used to provide broadband - CDMA can't do that

Thanks everyone.

I have three older CDMAs (7 and 5 years old) in the family and the batteries are only lasting half as long as original and are dying reasonably quickly.

Might go for some new CDMAs even if I only get 2 to 3 years out of them.
Well, one is used more around town so it might go GSM.

Oldplodder

Correction on that one mate CDMA is CDMA and GSM is GSM and 3G is just that means 3rd Generation,it can't be 3G CDMA all are digital but different systems.

Doug

There was an article in the Fin Review last week about Telstra doing data tests using the new 3G network and apparantly the data rates achieved were abysmally short of expectations. Range was also less than expected.

They did achieve some good results but that was for a tower that was on a nice high hill and a phone that had pretty much clear line of sight to the tower and was not too far away.

Real world this is not going to be the case and when some more testing was done the engineers were not apparantly too happy.

Unfortunately the equipment manufacturer has told Telstra that the gear meets the stipulations of the contract and they are not going to improve the gear until Telstra stumps up more cash. Sounds like the Contract Negotiation Team from Telstra had a a day off!

Anyway - reports are that the network rollout is progressing and launch is imminent and we all wait with baited breath to see what the results are.

Typical bloody Telstra - regarding broadband access - there are a few operators out there putting in DSLAMS into Telstra exchanges and offering ADSL2+ services with speeds up to 24,000kb/s up to 3 km from the exchange (and at prices substantially cheaper than Telstra charge for thier 1,500KB/s ADSL1!).

Because Telstra is SO big and monolithic (and have to please everybody) they are doing ADSL2, but at only 12,000KB/s and you can bet they will be more expensive and will take months to actually bring it to market.

So how does that bode for the 3G network? Telstra will once again be naturally conservative and just provide a basic service WELL within the limits of the capabilities of the technology and if you are unlucky enough to not be in a high profit area where the competitors cherry pick the most profitable customers then you just have to accept whatever Telstra feels is fit to serve out.

Oh why did we ever sell it!!!

Getting off the soapbox now!
Muddy

I am also holding off buying a new phone, or battery for the one which now only works when plugged into the mains charger. I have decided to try and wait until the new network is is place, and the rush of high priced new fangled phones is over, then buy something which hopefully will work. I sure hope someone out there makes a phone to do just that; phone and text messages is enough for me. All the rest of the stuff is irrelevant.

G'day Oldplodder,

The construction of Telstra’s national 3GSM850 mobile network has commenced and is scheduled to be launched in late 2006.

The CDMA network is planned for shutdown in early 2008, but will continue to operate until the new 3G 850 network offers comparable or better coverage. Customers will be able to continue using their existing CDMA handset and services on this network until this time.

When it's time to make the change, Telstra will contact customers and work with them to agree a plan to transition their business to the 3GSM850 Mobile Network in a manner and timeframe that suits their business.

Customers will be able to keep their existing phone numbers but will need to upgrade to a new sim card and new handset with a wide range of offers. There will also be a wide range of plans and phone accessories to choose from.

Telstra will be offering Customers an opportunity to connect to the 3GSM850 Mobile Network on a 24 month contract with similar terms & conditions to the existing CDMA plans. However, if they choose not to take up one of the 3GSM850 plans and wish to allow their CDMA service to end, they will not be required to pay any ETC's or outstanding MRO payments if the fixed term of there contract has not expired.

If you are looking at buying a new mobile phone aerial for your vehicle that will give maximum range in country areas, then you can buy one NOW that will work well with every current or proposed network (other than 3G-2100 - which will only ever be a suburban network).

The RFI Model Number is CD1795 and it gives 6dB gain from 825-960 MHz. It is a broomstick-style antenna about a metre high.

It will work on CDMA, GSM and 3GSM/3G850.

Telstra bloke here at work, stated that there will be phones or are phones that do BOTH 3G AND the good old GSM... He aint sure of models, but could be talking mozzie poop, who knows. he likes to spin a yarn occasionally