Awful Outback mobile and internet service

I have run the two largest ISP's in PNG
I have introduced Internet into several large towns in PNG for the first time
I have recently done a JV with the main Mobile Carrier to get three towers to cover 50,000 people.
Per Mb used to be 40 cents now down to around 4 cents, still bloody expensive
My VSAT link 2048 down/ 512 up @ 3:1 Contention costs $6,000 AUD per month. Not cheap, and people complain about 25 mbps :o
If people had to pay what it really costs, rather than being subsidised by city users then they would really squeal.
In the example of third world usage you have high population density and a large proportion of their income goes on mobile services. Coke estimated that when an area gets coverage, for every $1 the Carrier gains, they lose 40%, thats the competition for discretionary income.
But lets look at Australia,
When i went to Windorah in 2014, it was inexplicable there was no mobile coverage, as Telstra had a microwave tower there.
Would i expect Telstra to put a Tower every 15 km down the Birdsville Track for coverage, no.

This is an expensive game, and a lot of people expect someone else to pay for it.
That reminds me, supposed to do another JV (i.e put the hand in the pocket) to get another 4 towers in 2016.

i work for a telco. i wont say which one but it wont be hard to work out.

my company covered about 31% of the land mass of the country. lets round up to one third.
which is about 99.3% of the population.

putting towers in these areas is profitable. putting towers elsewhere is not profitable. phone towers and backhaul are expensive to build and maintain.

Funny how the 'old fashioned' analogue phones had better range than the digitals have...
My ancient Nokia 636 only EVER had one signal drop -out, and I had sufficient (audible) warning. (Deep in a basement...)

On the other hand, country range was superb, up to 40 km was not unknown, - but you had to extend the 6" antenna for that !!!

I've got VIRGIN pre-paid for my city phone because the co$ting & useage suits us, but that's useless out of Perth.

- On the Great Northern Highway beyond Midland, , there's little or no (Optus) coverage. - So I've bought a TELSTRA 'Blue-Tick' phone for charter-bus driving, and coverage is now perfect for where I'm going... I use ALDI pre-Paid which piggybacks off the TELSTRA system which gives better range/coverage than the "Other" carriers, IMHO...:angel:

In fairness, when flying at 4,000 feet around Bindoon/New Norcia, both phones have Excellent signal strength !:D:D:D

But, being born in the middle of last Century, I like to think the Outback is just that, away from "civilisation"... IF I really need comms, I'd hire a HF set or SAT-phone...
Or take the old CB set along, if the 'skip' is up, you can sometimes reach the coast from the middle...

Outback telecoms are brilliant these days.
I can only talk for the places I've lived but compared to the late 80's & early 90's it has come a very long way.


When we first moved to Outback QLD in 88 the phones (& power) were totally unreliable. Static was constant, drop outs numerous & total failures regular. Until the mid/late 90's dial up was the only internet option.


Now we have 4G, reliable land lines, ADSL2.
Most even small towns have mobile, Gregory Downs is an exception, & ADSL now.


I remember taking Radio Phone calls for years, having to go to the Police Station to send orders when every thing else was down & just not having any outside communications for 2 weeks because a rat had chewed a cable somewhere.


I was in Mapoon a couple of years ago when some clown burnt a microwave tower down & took out the whole towns comms. Within a few days Telstra or someone had a tempory tower up & comms running again. Pretty good I reckon.


Communications might be a bit ordinary compared to the "Smoke" but I thinks they are pretty good all things considered.


Jonesfam

Depends on what you term outback ...

In Sept' last year we went outback nsw for 3 weeks ... lots of places we went no one had any service, especially between destinations, but if I stopped, or whilst in camp, and ran up the 6m telescopic mast with a 6.5dB gain mobile antenna on the top, we got 1-2 bars of reception ... for data, not phone ... which suites me fine. Doesn't matter how slow the connection is. All I need to be able to do is get out a txt message (which can be done from the 3g/4g wi-fi modem we use) if we are in trouble. Still have UHF as well. If I was going really remote, I'd rent a sat' phone.

We got coverage where telstras coverage maps said there was none ... only 1 or no bars, but it was still enough to send a txt message to myself from the wifi modem, which I recieved when we back in normal mobile coverage. a 6m mast off the top of the D2 makes a big difference to your ability to get reception.

Check your coverage maps and take the appropriate steps before you leave.

Recognising everyone has a right to an opinion...

I say "What a load of ****" :cool::twisted:

Who cares about mobile service in the back blocks - its out there that I don't want it!!!

I've worked remote without issue - never even carried a Sat Phone - just a good journey management plan...

As for the number of people who died due to lack of phone reception - very few considering the mad terrorists (tourists) racing around like loonies with no idea what they're doing!

Society is bloody soft - and so co-dependant on tech its scary.
If there is ever a global take down of the internet people are going to lose their minds.... :angel::D

When we lived in Ceduna in 1969-71, we had no TV nor AM radio. We had a good record collection. :)

When we moved to Carnarvon in 1971, we had AM radio but no TV.

When we were in Cook in 2007, I had full Telstra mobile coverage. My wife had no Optus coverage.

Dunno where Cook is? Well, let me say it's bloody remote.

Mick, is this another of your frequent posts where you blame the government?

Australia is a huge remote country, we have come to expect high prices, poor infrastructure, poor services and a government run by clowns, that waste $billions and are answerable to no-one (because we expect it). Long may we not catch up with the rest of the world! :eek:

When 80% of the population reside in less than 300 post codes, what do you expect?

Or when people choose smaller, cheap carriers - it leaves no drive to build infrastructure- just target the profit points.

We have better services for the majority than much of the USA...

Our prices are a product of our choices for much of it...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Recognising everyone has a right to an opinion...

I say "What a load of ****" :cool::twisted:

Who cares about mobile service in the back blocks - its out there that I don't want it!!!

I've worked remote without issue - never even carried a Sat Phone - just a good journey management plan...

As for the number of people who died due to lack of phone reception - very few considering the mad terrorists (tourists) racing around like loonies with no idea what they're doing!

Society is bloody soft - and so co-dependant on tech its scary.
If there is ever a global take down of the internet people are going to lose their minds.... :angel::D

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Yeah, but without SOME access every two or three or four days, I can't pay my staff, pay creditors, order stock, keep my small business running, etc ... So I'd not be able to take 3 weeks off to go outback and chill ... I'm all for the fact that BECAUSE I can use this great technology, I CAN then get away ... and for more than 1 week, which is about all I can do without contact. I don't have heaps of staff to do my bidding, and I'm not on someone else's payroll so I can't just take 4 weeks annual leave and forget about work for 4 weeks .... You might be able too ... I don't know, but I sure can't.

I don't panic if there's not a connection available, I'll wait till there is one, but I took steps to ensure that when I do need to do what I have to do, I CAN. I don't use social media either. I'm trying to find a way to use up 3 lots of long service leave and about 80 weeks of unused holidays .... While keeping the business running so I can earn an income to pay me for those entitlements.

So, some of us do it because we have to. Don't condemn us because of that.

... condemn my wife ... She goes nuts if she can't get on Facebook! :p

Cheers