IvanM

Most phones will work here. The exception comes in the bush or where you want 3G access on Telstra Next G. Telstra in their wisdom use 850Mhz and are one of the few in the world to do so. Their consistent use of 850Mhz means they have a very robust network that is far reaching. Next G is available incredibly remotely.

Basically check if you want to use Telstra.

lapin_windstar

Can you not return it as duff to whoever you bought it from (in the UK)?

denzil73

You have to remember that there are only 2 service providers in Oz. Telstra and Optus. They own the hardware etc but have to sell bandwidth to the other retailers like vodafone, dodo etc

So depending on the service level agreement those companies have with the provider will dictate your level of service so if you get kick off the network alot then your provider has a low level service agreement

Alfresco

Probably could but would be very impractical from here and not really worth it for £100 it cost.

lapin_windstar

I don't think that Vodafone is a virtual mobile network operator. It has its own masts etc. Crazy John's is a VMNO that uses Vodafone infrastructure for example.

Edit: aaaaah, OK, I take that back a little. Looks like Vodafone had some infrastructure sharing agreements with Optus so perhaps in some areas of the country what you're saying is accurate and in others it's not. Certainly in the cities Vodafone has its own hardware.

silver

One of the few like AT&T, TNZ, Rogers in Canada, to name a few

silver

You were right the first time Vodafone is proper network provider and not an MVNO and the original poster was incorrect

There are and have been tower sharing agreements and network sharing agreements in the Australian market but there are so many complexities and changes over time that its not worth getting into here and then there is backhaul termination etc.. One thing that is probably fair to say is that everybody will use telstra in someways (rural backhaul, termination, roaming etc..)

silver

This is not really how mobile networks work or how MVNO's work. There is network registration control, highly complex QoS controls which look at traffic types, subscribers and classes of service, also there is concept called cell site breathing. This is all wrapped up in commercial agreements which need to conform to regulatory requirements. If your really interested this is a useful start point.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_network

If you are getting "kicked off" its most likely to be signal issues...

IvanM

The majority use 900 or 2100mhz. As I said very few carriers use 850Mhz. This has an impact on phone manufacturers not supporting the frequency on all models. Often they produce a separate model for the 850mhz models. If you do not double check you may not get what you are expecting. I had this issue with a personal nokia E71. I brought it over to work on their SIM and found I was on the three network sometimes (awful) or on Edge. Nokia produce a different E71 for Telstra.

silver

The majority of 3G networks use 2100Mhz agreed. But there is a lot of use of 850 so saying few carriers is incorrect as its use in the americas is quite widespread. 900 has been/will be implemented in Oceania (optus and voda) Asia and Europe (only Finland currently) but at least in Europe there is actually been very little 3G 900 implemented as yet. A lot of 3G900 implementations are new or planned based on 2G spectrum release. I don't have subscriber figures to hand but it would not surprise me if 850 is currently larger than 900.

This is a good link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands and this http://www.gsmarena.com/network-band...sCountry=INDIA

Actually manufacturers are not supporting all bands in phones at the moment due to the extra components/costs/size for the radios and are often supporting only 2 or 3 bands so almost all get 2100 then a sprinkling of 850/900/1700/1900.

Nokia generally produce subversions of the same phone e.g. 2100/850 or 2100/900, note the Apple iphone supports 2100/1900/850 (no 900). Nokia ship different subversion to different markets and retailers based on network usage. If you bought a Nokia in the US it would likely be an 850 variant (and may have a mixture of 2100 1900 and 1700). Suggesting that Nokia produce a specific version for Telstra is probably incorrect, I would suggest Nokia ship Telstra (or Telstra request) the same variant that is generally shipped to the American markets. After all Australia is very small market and when segmented by carrier, and brand loyalty you aren't looking at a huge amount of sales.

IvanM

iPhone 4 supports 900. As I say before check your phone. Point is there is a chance you will not get NextG access.

silver

Agreed should have said 3G/3GS.

and following on from your point there is an equal chance you will not get Optus YesG access if you bought the wrong phone revision. It is however most likely you will get 3G in metro areas on 2100.

pstanton

If you do not want to get tied into a contract when you first come over LEBARA is great as the calls and sms rates within Australia and abroad is the cheapest and it very easy to top up. i.e. 15 cents per text - only draw back is you cannot use it when you go abroad. They have not introduced international roaming - you can buy a sim card online or at any all phones kiosk in Australia. If you later decide to change to a contract you can transfer your number but you will not beat the call charges they are the cheapest pay as you go.