Should i wait for 3g

In Portugal ANACOM (Portuguese Telecomunications Regulator Entity) delayed the schedule for 3G till 2004. So it is impossible to have UMTS networks in active for end users this summer.
If you buy a GPRS/MMS phone like P800, with multimedia capabilities, you probably dont miss 3G. 3G networks will benefit bandwith for customers. However this bandwith will have a price.

[quote="Ricardo"]Hi. Im Portuguese, meaning 3g probably will come at the end of summer, and i don�t know if i should buy P800 or wait for 3g phones. 😞

Na, just keep waiting for a newer technology to come about, I am sure by then 3G will be very outdated 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃

Its a commonly unknown fact, that the SE P800 DOES support 3G if u put a 3G SIM in it. I would try and get a P800 unlocked somewhere, and try and get a 3G SIM. As far as i know though, there are not PAY-AS-U-GO SIMS for 3G

I'd like to thank Satellite for the anwer 😉 (Ricardo was me not registed), and i would like to say that i�m buying one P800! You convinced me.

Obrigado,

RickyTec

Woha! Hang on..?!? Surely not. SE have 3G phones coming, and there are at least 3 different 3G technologies. It'd be nice to think the P800 was 3G ready but it ain't. Have heard that all it would require would be a firmware upgrade but again, there is such complication as 3G phones roam onto 2G GSM networks when a 3G base-station is not available.

Besides, the point of a video call is that the other person can see you and you can see them - not possible on a P800 without some very tricky mirrors!

[quote="DeepBlue"]Its a commonly unknown fact, that the SE P800 DOES support 3G if u put a 3G SIM in it. I would try and get a P800 unlocked somewhere, and try and get a 3G SIM. As far as i know though, there are not PAY-AS-U-GO SIMS for 3G[/quote]

If that did work, you would be on 2.5G still, as the phone doesn't support data transmission at 3G speeds.

[quote="Lantana"]Woha! Hang on..?!? Surely not. SE have 3G phones coming, and there are at least 3 different 3G technologies. It'd be nice to think the P800 was 3G ready but it ain't. Have heard that all it would require would be a firmware upgrade but again, there is such complication as 3G phones roam onto 2G GSM networks when a 3G base-station is not available.

Besides, the point of a video call is that the other person can see you and you can see them - not possible on a P800 without some very tricky mirrors![/quote]

The guy at the orange shop also said the P800 supports 3G. At the time i didn't believe him... but now, from DeepBlue's confirmation, this seems correct.

Sorry to disappoint you, but it does not support 3G. Just tried a 3G SIM in it (we've had UMTS 3G for about 18 months now) and it did work, but only on GSM.

I didn't think it would.

www.three.co.uk is due to launch soon in the UK, but I doubt i'll be going for it...there are only 2 tarrifs!...�60 and �90 (or maybe �99) you get lots of bundled calls, but so much that you probably won't use them, you just want it for Data transmission at the moment as I don't think masses of people will take it up straight away, thus rendering the Video Conferencing useless. The bundled 'Data' Mins are pretty low and it costs 50p per minute once you've used your monthly allowence. :roll:

"Data mins" and "50p per minute"????

Surely the point of 3G (like GPRS) is that you can leave it connected and just get charged for what you use? Manx Telecom are charging (off the top of my head. Don't have exact prices on me) anywhere from �2 to �1 per MB (depending on contract).

Which is one of the main reasons I haven't bothered with it. I used my MD's SIM to check the P800.

The guy at the orange shop also said the P800 supports 3G. At the time i didn't believe him... but now, from DeepBlue's confirmation, this seems correct.

Maybe he was talking about EDGE which is a GSM technology between 2.5G and 3G where the data protocol is something more advanced than GPRS (ie it is more efficient and provides for data up to ~170kbps) so is considered a stepping stone to true '3G'. The base stations just need a software upgrade and continue to broadcast at the same frequencies. Many networks are taking this step and delaying 3G for a few years.

True 3G uses a higher frequency and is connectionless so voice, not just data, is packetised.

WAP/SMS over GSM is like a PC dialing up over a voice line using a modem;
WAP/SMS/MMS over GPRS over GSM is like DSL (data is sent digitally over the same line voice is sent non-digitally);
3G is like voice over IP (well, more accurately, voice over data). Both voice and data are treated as data and make use of the higher efficiencies gained by connectionless packetised protocols;
and finally, EDGE is a (much) better version of GPRS

I would expect the P800 would have great difficulties in working on a 3G network as the hardware would be quite different (voice is treated as data and uses higher frequencies) but may work on EDGE with a firmware upgrade as it is just a protocol change.

Its possible I've got some of this wrong so take it with a grain of salt.

[quote="Bassey"]"Data mins" and "50p per minute"????

Surely the point of 3G (like GPRS) is that you can leave it connected and just get charged for what you use? Manx Telecom are charging (off the top of my head. Don't have exact prices on me) anywhere from �2 to �1 per MB (depending on contract).

Which is one of the main reasons I haven't bothered with it. I used my MD's SIM to check the P800.[/quote]

That's what I thought....perhaps i've got it round my neck but Video/data is a class 'C' call which costs 50p per min after you go over your monthly allowence is my understanding of it.

But if this is the case then it is charged in the same way as WAP, prehaps you can be always 'conected' in the same way as GPRS, but it is charged when in use...bah! 😃