Telstra

Hi, just a quick update & warning about phones & the changes to the Telstra mobile networks.

I bought my phone from Dick Smith about a month ago. It has been working fine although I wasn’t certain but am now that it was operating on the 2G network. Not a problem, although Internet connections were slow through the 2G network.

So, I was in Dick Smith on the weekend looking for a phone for my wife when we noticed a note on the shelf with the Samsung Galaxy Ace (and other phones) saying something along the lines of “We do not recommend this phone for Telstra connections after 31/8/2012”! Naturally we were concerned. We spoke with the assistant in the shop and although helpful he was unable to explain the note but said he would research it and if we called back in he would update us.

Anyway, I did some research of my own including on the Samsung site, Android forums and Telstra. I am waiting for a response from Samsung, but I did manage to figure out that the problem is that Telstra will be turning off the 2100MHz network on 31/8/2012 (this I believe is the old 3G network). The warning in the shop apparently is for those phones that only operate on the 2100MHz 3G network: they will not work after 31/8/2012!

Then I did manage to work out that my Ace works on 2100MHz and 850MHz, the 850MHz being I believe NextG! Phew!

Anyway, I eventually got hold of someone via the Telstra Twitter account and within a few minutes they confirmed my phone would be OK and explained that I should get a new NextG SIM card as soon as possible.

So today I went into the Telstra shop in Springetts Arcade in Bowral and was helped by a trainee who in about 10 minutes had sorted it all out for me. I am now sitting in Janeks Cafe (thank you George for the free WiFi) typing this post and playing with my phone on the NextG network!

So it all worked out OK! It would have been better if Telstra and Dick Smiths had a bit more information available about what was going on. I really think Telstra need to advertise these changes a bit better! How annoying would it have been to have a 1 month l=old phone that would no longer work on the Telstra networks?