VERY busy GSM phone day in Uruguay
Both SIM's on their GSM 1800/1900 networks worked well.
Movistar (and Ancel...) Their switches do not appear to be programmed consistently for acceptance of international calls. For absolutely certain, both SIM's pass any credit test.
However dialing the USA today while in various places in Montevideo both Ancel and Movistar were inconsistent. In some cases a call would not go through dialed as +1-npa-nnn-xxxx. Two seconds later it would go through dialed 001 etc. like on a landline. However, assuming that 001 etc was correct - nope. Other places on either net worked as +1-npa-nnn-xxxx and failed as 001 etc.
Fascinating stuff, hmm?
Local calls went thru dialed as 02-xxx-xxxx no problem.
Coverage here is (and really always has been) very dense with general strong signal and almost no dead spots. I can hear my phone manage to get a radio channel before an international call doesn't quite go through.
And NO, I wasn't born stupid. For every minute of international call via cellular there's about an hour via Skype.
Labels: GSM, shiny gadgets
posted by tekno-yanqui-598 @ 7:02 AM
3 Comments:
I saw those dual sim Chinese yum-cha brand phones at the local grey market last week. Costs the equivalent of 120$ to 140$ and comes with a touch screen, quad band GSM support, 3MP autofocus camera, and get this... terrestrial TV with these irritatingly loud tinny speakers. cheap huh?
Changes I've noticed here compared to UY (a mix of good/bad, in no particular order):
1. Worse coverage over all. The network was available almost everywhere. Not so here. I have dead spots in my house in the middle of the city.
2. Support Service in at least 3 languages including English
3. Better 24x7 on-call support. The office, if I need to go there, is open between 9 am to 9 pm 6 days a week.
4. No 3G
5. Ridiculously cheap tariffs compared to UY. I pay the equivalent of 3 UYP a minute for a call to the US and Europe and 5 UYP
for a call to Uruguay. Almost as much as a local call in UY. Local calls and messages are almost free.
How well did terrestrial TV work? I would think quite poorly given the size of the phone and its internal antenna - or does it have an external connection of some sort for that? Is it PAL-B VHF or DVB-T? Analog or digital TV, whichever one... would not really interest me as a mobile phone feature.
As an aside - it's going to be SO interesting to see what happens the end of February of next year when analog is supposedly switched off. I have my two US$50 subsidy cards for converter boxes that I need to use before the end of this month. I don't need the boxes but I will pick up two just for, um, speculation purposes to sell to people that have no idea what will happen. ;) The switch has been so well-publicized but the US public never fails to astound me with its collective stupidity - one need look no further than our dumbass lying sack of shit president we've had for the last eight years.
(Oops. Outside voice...)
The US GSM experience is similar - far less consistent coverage. T-mobile sells phones that can attach to your home wifi network (or actually a wifi network anywhere in the world - I *think* the acronym is UDMA?). I had crap coverage inside my apartment - phone would show 1 bar routinely - until just recently. I got an automated email from T-mobile's customer service saying they'd put up a new tower near my apartment and I should see an improvement.
I have noticed I get 4 bars now so there is indeed something new. Call delivery problems aside the service quality is pretty good.
We get tech support in Spanish, English, and if you use AT&T - Indian English. I won't use AT&T for anything that's a contract but it has nothing to do with where their call center is - it's been a long-standing policy NOT to buy anything from the AT&T deathstar for years now.
24x7 phone support is all we really have in the USA. The franchised dealers don't want to take any time to help you if you're not buying a phone. The corporate stores aren't a heck of a lot better - there's no commission in it for the salesperson to show you how to use a phone you've already bought. I know for sure I'm not likely to go back to a T-mobile store for help with anything given the totally indifferent attitude I (initially) got regarding a problem with call delivery.
T-mobile also has yet to deploy 3g. AT&T has it but (have I beat this to death yet?) I won't buy anything from them - ever - again.
I'm disappointed this month to find that Sprint has unilaterally amended (i.e. breached) their contract with me - imposing a 5GB transfer cap on their 3g CDMA (EV-DO) service. When T-mobile has widespread 3g support I'll see what's on offer and if Sprint hasn't cancelled me (or I haven't cancelled them) for excessive transfer I might see what's on offer. I use Sprint 3g EV-DO at my office but my days as their customer are numbered - and that's by their choice.
The prepaid service here in the USA is as expensive as in Uruguay. Postpaid? Buy a "bucket" of minutes and calls to people on your same network are "free." Calling off network during the "day" - which is defined as like 7am-10pm in most contracts... you use your minutes. The services all are shooting for an average revenue per user of a hundred bucks or more.
I'm speaking only of the GSM service providers. I've no interest in buying voice services from Alltel, Verizon, Sprint, Cricket, Metro PCS, Qwest or any of the other network "brands." The first four are actually physical networks, Qwest uses Sprint's network.
International calls? I think it might actually be cheaper in Uruguay for international calls. I have a toll-free number for a calling card pre-programmed into my phone and those rates are comparable to what you're talking about, but the quality is often crap. Dialing direct is terribly expensive - like 2 or 3 bucks a minute - but I've done it when the prepaid calling-card balance is low or if I'm in traffic and can't safely dial that many digits.
The terrestrial TV reception is OK as long as you are outdoors. TV here is PAL and its analog. Digital's just started to rear its head in the market, although HD content is a LONG way off.
I get the feeling you dont like AT&T. haha
A lot of ISPs in the US are planning on throttling bandwidth for high volume users or pricing it like electricity companies price power. The more you use, the more you pay for each incremental unit. Thats bullshit. Bandwidth is not like power generation.
Not that I know what banda ancha is. Im back to using a 512K at night 256K by day connection. Thats the fastest you get as an 'no limits' connection. An 8 mbps service has just started... but the prices are astronomical.
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