Information
Having travelled to most areas of rural and outback Australia, we know first hand of the need
for emergency communications. While they say that GSM/CDMA covers 96/98% of the Australian population, the reality is
that GSM covers only 8% of the land mass, while CDMA covers 19% of the land mass.
Now that CDMA has been closed down, the Telstra Next-G network would be similar in coverage. This still leaves vast areas
of no mobile coverage.*
There are a number of communications options available to people travelling through or working in remote areas.
1. HF Radio.
This is a fairly reliable service however equipment and installation costs are fairly expensive ($3000-$4000). This makes
it not worthwhile for those doing irregular or one-off trips. There are some extra benefits that HF provide, such as the
availability of regular weather reports, the ability to keep in touch with other HF users and also monitored land bases
to checkpoint you journey. (Note. HF radio is nothing like the UHF CB radios many people have these days. UHF is a short
range communications system (up to 20KM, but typically around 5KM).
Costs. Fairly high initial one-off cost for equipment/installation. There are a number of HF networks that one can
register with for a low annual cost which provide phone-call, check-point, weather etc., services.
2. Satellite Phone.
Satellite phones come in many flavours as you would expect. Some use fixed geostationary satellites to provide the
connection path, others use the closer orbiting satellites. Some networks have many satellites available an any one time,
others have very few and it can take up to 15 mins to 'get a line'.
In our experience, Iridium have, by far, the most reliable service at this time. The Iridium system consists of 66
orbiting satellites which ensures that you are never without coverage. The Iridium network, combined with the Motorola
9505A phone is our pick of the services for anyone working or travelling through the outback, or sailing within 200KM of
the Australian coast. The 9505A is a compact hand held terminal with good battery life.
3. Satellite Broadband.
While not particularly suited to day-drivers wanting instant phone-type communications, portable satellite broadband has
its uses. This is more suited for mining camps, road gangs, remote properties etc, where the system is set up for a
number of days/weeks/months. Some technical knowledge is required to set up the dish, but once set up broadband Internet
as well as phone and fax lines are instantly available. The Internet and phone costs are surprisingly low with the SATNET
system, however these costs can be a hidden trap with other providers so we suggest you read their fine print carefully.
4. Mobile Cellular.
As mentioned above, only a small percentage of the Australian land mass is actually covered by any of the cellular
networks. Having said that however, not everyone travels into these areas. Many people stick to the bitumen, visit the
popular spots and never much venture too far away from civilisation. The vast majority of people exploring our great land
are in this catogory. I like to refer to them as 'fair-weather travellers'.
In this case, the mobile phone system might just be right for you, and to get the most out of the mobile network of your
choice, we have some great products.
As you know, Next-G has by far the best coverage of any Australian network. (Confused about Next-G, 3G, GSM, CDMA? Well,
see my explanation of these further down the page). Combined with the fact that the system has been specifically designed
to provide high speed data access, this makes it the ideal system for those 'fair-weather travellers' i.e. those wanting
to get out and about, but not too far off the beaten track.
Speed, speed, more speed Yohan!
The Golden Rules of Mobile Communication.
1. Better signal means better speed.
2. You will never get more speed than the maximum speed the service supports.
What does it all mean?
It means that those nifty little slide in or USB devices sold for laptop users are OK in high signal areas, but DO NOT
WORK in other areas. The tiny little antenna is the first problem, then being tucked in the corner of an aluminium clad
caravan is the second problem and of course the third problem is that available signal level is also determined by the
distance from the tower, i.e. signal levels reduce as you move further from the tower.
How do I fix it?
1. Purchase a device that supports the mobile system that best suits your needs.
i.e. If you usually stay in cities and major towns, you can probably get away with just a GSM system, as provided by
Vodafone, Telstra etc. If you want to maximise the chances of getting a connection at a good speed, want to have greater
phone coverage and will be out in the country more, then it is essential that you obtain a Next-G based service.
2. If buying a device, ensure that it has an external antenna connection socket. This way you can plug in an
external antenna and not have to rely on the tiny built-in antenna.
3. Have a high gain antenna mounted to your car/caravan that you can plug into the device in order to improve your
signal.
2G! 3G! Next-G! What does it all mean?
There is a lot of confusion about 3G and Next-G and the services they offer, who offers it and what equipment you need to
get it. In short, all mobile networks have 2G and 3G services. This is all part of GSM.
Next-G is not 3G but a completely different system that has been built from the ground up to support high speed data. Only
Telstra has Next-G.
GSM (Groupe Spécial Mobile). A group put together in Europe tasked with developing a mobile phone system that would
be suited to a high number of users and be compatible between different countries. System currently used by over 3 billion
people in 121 countries.
GSM networks are a digital network and comply with the GSM standard. Due to a feature of the GSM system, cell sizes (i.e.
the range from the tower) are limited to 35KM. Therefore, if you are over 35KM from a tower owned by your favourite phone
service provider, you will have no service. While this feature is of benefit in densly populated countries where they
benefit from frequency re-use, this is more of a hindrance for people in sparsely populated countries such as Australia.
GSM 2G is all you will get outside major cities, which is of course where travellers spend most of their time, GSM 2G with
GPRS (or GSM 2.5G as it is known) has speeds of just 56 to 114KBps. Yahoo! I'm Surfin! - not.
GSM 3G enabled with HSDPA (High Speed Data Packet Access) is typically only available in city areas. 3G/HSDPA services
include video calls and high speed Internet (supporting downlink speeds of 1.8, 3.6, 7.2 and soon to be 14.4 Mbps). This
is fast, but only of benefit if you have a good signal and you are in a 3G coverage area (i.e. a city centre)
For more on the history of mobile phone development in Australia, please read on. Some of you will get a laugh out of
what we then thought was modern and cutting edge. Remeber the Nokia Brisk, or the Motorola bag phone?
Here goes. Back in the late 80's there was the Analogue Mobile Phone System (AMPS). This was where the car and bag phones
existed, and the odd, particularly trendy, real estate agent would have a 'hand-held' unit. This is generally referred to
as 1G (i.e. first generation). 1G services included basic call features such as call diversion and message bank.
Here is a time-line on the development of the mobile industry since its inception in the 1980's.
1987 Analogue Mobile Phone System (AMPS) launched by Telecom.
1989 100,000th service connected.
1992 Optus licenced as a carrier and becomes a reseller of AMPS.
1992 Vodafone licenced as a carrier and begins building own digital network.
1992 500,000th AMPS service connected.
1993 Telecom changes name to Telstra.
1993 Telstra launches new digital 2G service.
1993 Optus and Vodafone launch their own digital services.
1993 63,5000 Analogue maobile phones in Australia (less than 4% of population).
1994 1 million AMPS subscribers.
1995 300,000 Digital subscribers accross all three networks.
1995 2 million AMPS subscribers.
1996 1 million digital subscribers, 2.6 million AMPS subscribers.
1998 Telstra announces it will build a new network CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) to replace the AMPS network which
it was forced to shut down by Govt. regulation.
1999 CDMA network launched.
2000 AMPS network shut down.
2000 Hutchison launches it own CDMA network.
2001 OneTel launches GSM1800 network featuring 2G technology.
2001 Telstra introduces its GPRS data system overlay to its GSM network, making basic email and Internet services
available.
2002 OneTel GSM1800 network closes down.
2003 First 3G network launched, supporting Broadband speeds and video calls.
2005 9 million mobile phone users.
2006 Hutchison (Orange, now called Three) anounces 1 million 3G customers.
Note – the 3 network is a jointly owned by Telstra and Hutchison.
*AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY'S TELECOMMUNICATIONS PERFORMANCE REPORT 2004-05
|
|
