What worker doesn’t want to be able to work from any place at any time? That kind of freedom brings more time with family, less time in traffic, the ability to manage workflow irrespective of location, and the choice of being in the office only when you have to be.

No arguments then, as a concept, wireless communication rocks. However, things get less exuberant when the proverbial “rubber hits the road” and instead of sending a text message over a zippy little mobile phone, you decide you want wireless capacity for serious business workhorses like desktops, laptop computers and PDAs.

Where wireless is at

Businesses using an IP wireless network – a fast service for devices including desktops and laptops – can have it.
The only proviso with an IP wireless network is that you don’t move around much while you’re using the network, you use a wireless broadband modem and you stay within the network coverage area.

As an IP wireless network can let you wirelessly transfer files between say, Wellington and Auckland, it is almost as good as the concept of a fully mobile wireless data service. The difference with a fully mobile data service, the subject of this article, is you can wirelessly send files from your mobile devices whilst in a moving car, train, bus (but not a plane) and the service is additionally available internationally. An IP wireless network won ’t allow you to be quite that mobile.

The ultimate freedom of being able to work while on the move and from almost anywhere in the world, is understandably exciting. That ’s why vendors and businesses are excited about the evolution of fully mobile data services in New Zealand.

If you think your business would benefit from a fully mobile data service, there are only two network choices in New Zealand. These are Telecom New Zealand’s CDMA 1XRTT mobile data network (they call it Mobile Jetstream) and Vodafone’s mobile data network,which is called GPRS.

The obvious question is which should you use, but the answer is not as easy as which is cheapest; pricing for both networks is almost exactly comparable (see pricing chart) Given this, mobile data users must examine in more depth what each network has to offer. Choosing the right mobile data supplier is a matter of deciding which mobile data network strengths matter most to your business and which network weaknesses matter least. We’ll help you through that by looking at each network and provider in turn, starting with Vodafone.

The need for speed

While Vodafone’s truism about mobile communication being “the future” is catchy, another Vodafone slogan “GPRS: Business at full throttle” could be a little premature, as speed is the major weakness of Vodafone’s GPRS mobile data network – for now. In New Zealand, you can expect average mobile data speeds of between 20 and 50 kilobits per second (Kbps)to and from wireless mobile devices (like laptops, PDAs, mobile phones and the Tablet PC) over the Vodafone network. That’s about the speed of a dial-up modem. Smart solution developers are getting around this problem by using compression technology and by building intelligence into the server environment so that only new information is transmitted, keeping costs and transmissions light and quick.

While those used to land-based Jetstream and even faster office network connections will find it slow, it is nevertheless a lot better than the 9.6Kbps previously available over standard mobile voice networks. (At those speeds, few businesses bothered trying to send data over a mobile network because it either took too long or wouldn ’t work.)

Vodafone ’s competitive problem is that the average speed of Telecom ’s Mobile Jetstream service is close to twice that of Vodafone GPRS – an average of 70Kbps is available over Mobile Jetstream,with peaks above 100Kbps.

Vodafone’s GPRS speed limitations are exacerbated by a mobile network which is clogged with voice customers overlaid with mobile data customers.

With GPRS, you're permanently connected to the network - it's as if you had your own permanent space next to the conveyor belt. You can put stuff on (and remove stuff addressed to you) whenever you like. So charging you by time doesn't make sense. Instead, you're charged according to how much data you send and receive.

Despite the fact Vodafone’s GPRS network struggles to carry large files fast, it is more than efficient for mobile data users who exchange small files like emails without attachments, text messages and small documents. However, if your business needs a mobile data service able to cope with sending and receiving large files like zipped files, graphics, Word documents or PowerPoint presentations, you will find Vodafone’s present GPRS system too slow. You can choose to wait for large files to arrive (up to 10 minutes for a one mega-byte transfer) but if this is untenable, then use Mobile Jetstream.

Near and far?

If Vodafone ’s mobile data Achilles heel is speed, Telecom’s is definitely incomplete mobility. What we mean by this is Mobile Jetstream will perform like a Formula One racing car for you in New Zealand, but will only crawl along overseas. And for many countries, there’s simply no car in the Mobile Jetstream garage.

You can use Mobile Jetstream in Australia or the US, but at speeds significantly slower than in New Zealand. Speeds of up to 14.4Kbps are available; with users charged more expensive overseas rates because for Australia Telecom has to “borrow” local telecommunications services in order to make Mobile Jetstream available.

This must be compared with Vodafone’s GPRS service, which is available in Australia and the UK at New Zealand pricing. Vodafone has also promised users 10 European countries by the end of February, and eight to 10 countries per month thereafter. These will include the US and Ireland. In stark contrast, Telecom says it “is not in a position at this time to articulate proposed service enhancements for global roaming”.

It’s fairly obvious then, that if international travel is important to your business the GPRS network is going to be the best wireless mobile data choice for now.

Other considerations

You can, of course, use both mobile data networks – Mobile Jetstream in New Zealand for speed and GPRS for overseas travel. The other advantage to this is that if you can ’t get coverage at a remote location from one network, you might be able to from the other; however, taking an each-way bet will roughly double your investment.

Here ’s why: Each network can only be accessed by a mobile device capable of doing so (laptop cards, mobile phones, PDAs, the Tablet PC).

Vodafone has a delightful array of these GPRS-capable gadgets, the result of strategic partnerships between GPRS providers and mobile wireless device makers, and the fact there is presently a bigger worldwide market for GPRS. (At the moment, for every one person in the world using a CDMA network – called Mobile Jetstream in New Zealand – there are six or seven people using GPRS.)

However, CDMA providers have been creating strategic partnerships too. Devices that will work with Mobile Jetstream are available here; there’s just not so many of them, and they tend to be slightly more expensive.

For example, Mobile Jetstream cards for laptops are around $300 more than their GPRS equivalents at between $1100 and $1300. However, you can buy a mobile phone and cable for your laptop which replaces the need for the wireless card. This set up costs about $250.

To buy a Mobile Jetstream-capable smart phone or PDA you will need to spend between $1400 and $2500. The cost of the wireless mobile data service will need to be added to that. GPRS device prices are as variable as the GPRS smart phones, cards and PDAs available, but tend to be slightly cheaper than CDMA-able equivalents.

The future of mobile data in New Zealand

To understand where mobile data is going, it helps to understand how mobile networks have progressed.

Developmental stages of mobile networks are often called generations. For example, first generation or 1G mobile networks use analogue technology to transmit voice. These are followed by second generation (2G) networks, which are digital. Being digital means a 2G mobile network
has extra capacity, increased voice quality and can transmit data as well.

So-called 2.5G networks are a stage in between 2G and future 3G networks; they allow data to be transmitted separately to voice. However, it is 3G networks that hold the promise of truly advanced mobile services, including much faster internet access and the ability to make mobile video calls.

So where are Vodafone and Telecom New Zealand going with their mobile networks?

Presently the companies use competing mobile network technologies – Vodafone uses the 2.5G General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Telecom uses Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and its recent upgrade, 1XRTT, which Telecom calls “Mobile Jetstream”. When Mobile Jetstream was launched, Telecom billed it as a 3G mobile network. However, while Mobile Jetstream is technically 3G compliant it is not yet running at true 3G capacity. Think of it as 2.75G if you like!

While Vodafone and Telecom will eventually launch 3G mobile networks in New Zealand, it is difficult to pin down when this will happen, and how much the services will cost.

The mobile data market is still growing and maturing, so there isn ’t a lot of return on 3G investment for telcos in the short term. Another barrier is the exorbitantly high cost of 3G radio spectrum, the radio range which carries 3G mobile calls, and which must be purchased from governments or “bought into” with existing commercial owners.

Telecom and Vodafone Data Pricing

March 2003

By Vikki Bland