Telecom NZ have stated that the TDMA and Analogue AMPS service in NZ
will Close Down at end of MARCH 2007
this will leave just GSM and WCDMA from Vodafone and CDMA from Telecom
NZ a very sad day that will be !!

KiwiSteve :( :(

and the old customers?!?! They will lose numbers and contracts?

I somehow suspect that they will try and migrate them to CDMA. I don't know whether New Zealand has number portability. NZ Telecommunications are rather strange.

Stu

AMPS and TDMA customers can just change the prefix code from 025 to 027
on the CDMA network. But they must choose the CDMA calling plans

Number Portability, Both networks don't seem to want it so it never happened .
Plus with the Plans / deals for calling on your own network only option it would be a nightmare with number portability so may it stay away !!


:thumbdown: :thumbdown:

What network standard did BellSouth have in place before the 1998 merger with Vodafone?

Network Standard ? well they really didn't have much of a network at all, very spotty coverage . But it was just the original GSM system not Amps or Tdma .
Took Vodafone ages to bring coverage up to anything like the tdma or analogue amps coverage.

Steve
:D :D

I read in the Herald (major newspaper in NZ) that Number Porability will be established next year. I'll believe it when I see it, though!

Regards,
James

I think Number portability will just confuse the issue as we have so many ( within the same network plans / deals ) like Vodafone's motormouth PostPaid where there are 200 inc anytime voda / voda minutes .
In many cases you can swap 021 to 027 prefix anyway except the old 6digit gsm numbers will be a problem

KiwiSteve

Here's the trick behind the closure of Telecom's TDMA/AMPS network on 31 March 2007 (17:00 local time) and the introduction of Number Portability in New Zealand on 1 April 2007:

Everybody will be able to change their service between Vodafone NZ and Telecom NZ and keep their existing number (including the prefix 021 or 027) after April 1st 2007. The trick behind Telecom shutting down their TDMA system a few hours before MNP becomes their legal obligation is that 025 numbers (TDMA/AMPS numbers) won't fall into their MNP obligation.

What they offer now is that Telecom TDMA/AMPS users (025 users) can upgrade to CDMA (with a free Nokia 2118) and, if available, they can keep their number and just change to the 027 (CDMA) prefix. But this is not enough, as one can say that a former TDMA/AMPS customer can move as easily to Vodafone and ask them for the same number with Vodafone's prefix (021), but here's Telecom's trick to keep TDMA/AMPS customers with them, first they close the network one day before MNP so they are not obliged to offer portability on 025 numbers and second they offer a free call diversion to the new 027 number, ONLY to customers who choose to stay with Telecom and not move to Vodafone!

This means that on the one hand the 025 numbers are legally considered obsolete after March 31 and so they can't be ported to Vodafone, but if the TDMA/AMPS customer chooses to opt for Telecom's upgrade-to-CDMA offer they get all their calls diverted for free to their new 027 number, i.e. the 025 numbers will still appear to be working for them, although legally it will be a "diversion" to the new number!

In my opinion this is very nasty on Telecom's behalf as it blackmails users of the old 025 network to stay with Telecom and cancels their legal right to MNP after April 1st 2007....

Unfourtently, this is typical Telecom tactic. I would be very surpised to see them play fair -- they try to bend the rules as much as they can so they can get a competitive advantage over the other companies. The number of times the Commerce Commission has taken Telecom to court I can't began to count, yet they still do their unethicial business practises.

It's things like this which gives me even more reasons not to do any business with Telecom, and there was a already long list of reasons not do do business with Telecom!

Regards,
James

Yes I wonder about how Voda and Telecom will deal with home-network calls with different prefixs. Eg a if I had a 021/GSM phone calling a GSM phone with a 027/CDMA prefix would the network be able to tell that the receiving call is Vodafone and bill it at the correct rate -- or would the 027 prefix confuse the billing system and incorrectly charge it at normal cross-network rate.

I'm not fond of different prices for cross-network calls -- i'ld rather it was all at the same rate. Would save a lot of hassle, especially with number portability!

Regards,
James

It's not a matter of the billing system getting "confused", trust me the billing system can handle things very easily, moreover, NZ only has two providers and this makes things a lot easier! It is a matter of subscribers not getting enough information (which is their right) on what they're paying for each call.

Here in Greece, although the in-network plans are limited (sometimes even to subscribers of the same network with a special subscription), here's the solution they've found.

There is a short code where you can send an SMS with your desired number for free and you get a reply SMS which tells you which network the number you want to call belongs to. For offers that are valid only to specific subscribers of a specific offer, there is another free SMS short code which tells you if the subscriber you want to call is part of the offer.
The local regulator (EETT.gr) has actually forced operators (both fixed and mobile) to provide information on the carrier each number belongs to, free of charge. And that's because each fixed carrier charges different rates for calls to different mobile networks and mobile providers (although their minutes are allover) sometimes have special reduced rates for in-network calling. If their tarrifs make no distinction between destination networks then they're not obliged to offer this kind of information to their subscribers!

Moreover, when you get your (fixed or mobile) call statement, they're obliged to give you the name of the provider which the number belongs to, next to the called number. That's a clever solution.

But anyway, there is no excuse in not offering MNP just because it would cause some initial confusion to the subscribers. MNP will actually bring a lot more benefits than the initial confusion that will be caused (like here in Greece where tarrifs are network independent).