VZW in Australia

[Trojan]

I was on a visit to Australia and was very surprised to see that my LG 6100 had full signal everywhere I went. However,I couldn't make or receive calls.
I didn't think CDMA will register over there. I was using a prepaid T 637 and must say the coverage in Australia is much better tnan the one here.
No dead spots,flawless service on Optus.

[Andy]

Did you have internatioal roaming set up on your phone?
Australia does have a good built out CDMA network from what I hear, but you must have been in some populated areas; in the middle of nowhere, you'll have "no Service" as well

[Trojan]

I have International roaming activated on my account and that is why I was surprised not to be able to receive or make calls.
I was also in pretty isolated spots at times and the phone had a good reception.

[Andy]

Very interesting, have you contacted Verizon about this problem?

[Fathead]

Did you get a PRL with Australian SIDs on it?

[Trojan]

I didn't bother calling VZW. My phone had a PRL and SID version while there. I forgot what the numbers were but I was not registered with a provider. It just said 1 X and the roaming indicator was on.
Thank you for your replies.

[roamer1]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

Did you have internatioal roaming set up on your phone?
Australia does have a good built out CDMA network from what I hear, but you must have been in some populated areas; in the middle of nowhere, you'll have "no Service" as well

Actually, Telstra went CDMA specifically to serve less populated areas that had either AMPS coverage or nothing before. There's been quite a bit of press about the reach of some of Telstra's CDMA sites (as far as 120 km, IIRC)...

That said...VZW does not have a roaming agreement with Telstra. VZW seems to be close to opening up roaming in New Zealand on Telecom's CDMA, though, based on a NZ SID popping up in a recent PRL.

-SC

[Andy]

120 KM???? Are you serious??? WoW! That is crazy! How in the world can a cellsite transmit/receive that far??

[roamer1]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

120 KM???? Are you serious??? WoW! That is crazy! How in the world can a cellsite transmit/receive that far??

high-gain antennas...virtually nothing between phone and site...a VERY lightly loaded system...

-SC

[Andy]

Ah-for once I don't think a lot of people would be using their phones in the middle of nowhere; I'd like to know how high off the ground those antennas are then

[royc]

Originally Posted by roamer1

high-gain antennas...virtually nothing between phone and site...a VERY lightly loaded system...

-SC

Here is an posting about the Australian extended range CDMA tests that I copied from a newsgroup a couple of years ago. It is very interesting reading to those of us who are engineers or radio enthusiasts. Since this is too long for one post, I'll post the intro and first test in this post and the second test in a second post.

royc

INTRO AND FIRST TEST

************************************************** ******



Telstra (Australian 800Mhz CDMA operator) operates "boomer" cells which remove the range limitation in CDMA. They report calls held using a .2 watt handheld and a 50 watt base station at ranges of around 100km (60 miles) with just the handhelds antenna and ranges in excess of 130km (80 miles) using a "marine" antenna.

Telstra runs CDMA because when they dropped 800Mhz analog in favor of GSM some years back, they cut off a lot of people using their analog mobiles in the outback.

GSM hard range limitation is 35km (21 miles) and is basically not changeable unless you sacrifice half (or more) of the system capacity.

Here is a very interesting article on a CDMA range testing done in Australia.


Telstra CDMA Rural Field Trial

"Mt Dowe" Base Station, NSW

Overview

This report outlines the results of several tests that were conducted from the Mt Dowe base station in Northern NSW.

The objectives of the tests were twofold:

1. Verify the functionality and performance of the CDMA Extended Cell feature that will be used in the Telstra CDMA network. Normally, CDMA range is limited to no more than 62 km by mobile and base station hardware and software. The Nortel Networks extended cell ("Boomer Cell") removes this artificial limitation on range.
2. To compare the coverage between analogue and CDMA at a rural site with an extended coverage area.
Such sites are common throughout rural Australia.
The basis for comparison was between standard CDMA units (0.2Watt output power, no booster) and analogue (3Watt boosted) mobile phones, paying particular attention to speech quality as well as dropout points.

Mt Dowe is a very high mountain top with an analogue base station situated 37 km east of Narrabri in northern NSW, and typically provides vehicle based analogue coverage across wide areas, with distances in excess of 100 km from the base station.



Mt Dowe

Mt Dowe is one of the mountains in the Mt Kaputar National Park, and is approximately 1500 m above sea level with a mean height of 1300 metres above the surrounding terrain, which is mostly flat with occasional bushland. Cotton farming is common in the area, with vast tracts of cleared land devoted to this activity.

Viewed from the West, North and South, the Mt Kaputar Range clearly dominates the surrounding landscape.

The Mt Dowe analogue base station is configured with high power 50 Watt transmitters and Omni directional antennas. This type of analogue configuration is common in many locations around Australia.

The CDMA installation is co-located and shares the same tower structure with analogue, is equipped with the Nortel "Boomer Cell", and configured as follows:

* Omni directional antennas (similar to analogue).
* High power transmitter amplifiers
* Extended cell capability (remove artificial distance limit)
* High performance tower mounted Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) (boosted receiver performance)



Test Methodology

For the purpose of assessing comparative analogue and CDMA coverage, two drive routes were selected extending westward from Mt Dowe.

Calls were established some distance inside the edge of coverage. The vehicles were then driven away from the base station whilst monitoring call quality at both ends until the calls dropped and could not be re-established.

Four wheel drive vehicles were used for the surveys, and fitted with:

1. Vehicle mounted analogue car phone (3Watt power) with an externally mounted antenna.
2. CDMA handheld phone (standard power 0.2Watt) mounted in a car kit (no booster) with an externally mounted antenna

Additionally a number of handheld calls were made with a CDMA hand portable outside the vehicle on the side of the road.



Results and Observations

Test Route 1 - Narrabri to Pilliga via Wee Waa

This test commenced by establishing a CDMA and analogue call in the car when leaving Narrabri (37 km from Mt Dowe base station), following a route through Wee Waa, and then on an unsealed road through to Pilliga (120 km from Mt Dowe).

Up to Wee Waa (70 km from the base station) , both analogue and CDMA calls could be established and easily maintained with good quality. During this time an unobstructed view of the Mt Dowe base station to the East was observed.

Upon entering Wee Waa, both CDMA and analogue call quality degraded, this was as a result of the buildings and other local obstructions in the town.

Limited handheld CDMA calls could be made in Wee Waa but only at selected locations and coverage was noted as patchy.

On leaving Wee Waa, CDMA speech quality immediately improved and the call held until 109 km from Mt Dowe.

Intermittent CDMA calls could be made at this location as could analogue, however quality was very marginal.

An analogue call was again established and the drive continued until the call dropped once at 122 km, and then again at 124 km. Over the distance 109 km to 124 km, analogue speech quality was very noisy and often completely unintelligible.

Reliable calls could not be established on either technology beyond 124 km.

Driving back towards Wee Waa, a CDMA call was established at 123 km with good call quality at this location, however quality was patchy, as was analogue along the road in this area.





As an extreme test of CDMA performance, a successful handheld call outside the vehicle was made at a distance of 118 km from the base station.

This test drive established that the CDMA and analogue coverage from Mt Dowe is very comparable with reasonably equivalent call quality and coverage noted.

At the edge of coverage between 109 and 123 km, the signal quality is generally unreliable for both technologies,

being affected by crests and dips in the road, trees & local obstructions.



Test Route 2 - Narrabri to Burren Junction via Wee Waa

The drive route for this test commenced at Narrabri, passed through Wee Waa, and then to Burren Junction some 118 km from Mt Dowe. Up to Burren Junction, CDMA quality was excellent with no apparent degradation, except when passing through Wee Waa as previously noted.

Entering Burren Junction, the CDMA call dropped once, but could be re-established intermittently in the town. Once again, local obstructions from buildings were the likely cause of the degradation. >From Burren Junction onwards, CDMA showed patchy coverage until the drive concluded at 122 km.

Returning to the 112 km mark, an analogue call was established and the drive repeated through Burren Junction. As with CDMA, the analogue call held until entering Burren Junction. However a notable difference was that the analogue speech quality was noisier and noticeably poorer than CDMA in this area.

Unlike CDMA, no analogue calls could be established past Burren Junction.

Several stationary spot checks were performed at a location in Burren Junction. Whereas CDMA calls could be reliably established with good speech quality, analogue calls could only be established after repeated attempts, and showed marginal speech quality.

This test drive showed CDMA coverage as marginally better than analogue in terms of quality and absolute coverage. The coverage distance from Mt Dowe was similar to that achieved on the first drive route.

Conclusions

The two test drives conducted clearly showed that CDMA and analogue coverage in this area are very comparable, with CDMA marginally better on one drive route and very similar to analogue along the other.

In all tests CDMA maintained very high call quality.

The tests have demonstrated that using the Nortel Boomer Cell, Telstra CDMA can provide coverage over land at distances in excess of 100 km, subject to base station location, height and surrounding terrain.

It was noted that the distances achieved were consistent with the radio path horizon and intervening terrain in this area, beyond which earth curvature limits the radio signals.

[royc]

2ND AUSTRALIAN EXTENDED RANGE CDMA TEST

************************************************** ********

Telstra CDMA Marine Trial

"Peak Alone" Base Station, NSW South Coast

Overview

This report outlines the results of a number of tests that were conducted on the south coast of NSW during April and May 1999.

The objectives of the tests were twofold:

1. Verify the functionality and performance of the CDMA Extended Cell feature that will be used in the Telstra CDMA network. Normally, CDMA range is limited to no more than 62 km by mobile and base station hardware and software. The Nortel Networks extended cell ("Boomer Cell") removes this artificial limitation on range.
2. Test the absolute coverage of CDMA in a marine environment, as measured by call quality and call dropout.

Peak Alone

The Peak Alone analogue base station is approximately 1000 metres above sea level and located 25 km inland from Narooma on the NSW south coast. Coverage from Peak Alone extends up and down the coast from Narooma, as well as east out to sea. At this height above sea level, the predicted radio horizon is around 130 km for a mobile at sea level.

The Peak Alone analogue base station is configured with high power 50 Watt transmitters, with Omni directional antennas. This type of analogue configuration is common in many locations around Australia.

The CDMA installation is co-located and shares the same tower structure with analogue, is equipped with the Nortel "Boomer Cell", and configured as follows:

* Omni directional antennas (similar to analogue).
* High power transmitter amplifiers
* Extended cell capability (remove artificial distance limit)
* High performance tower mounted Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) (boosted receiver performance)

Test Methodology

Testing was conducted in chartered boats and due to the logistical difficulties of operating long distances offshore, coverage was tested along the coast, starting at Ulladulla harbour some 122 km from Peak Alone.

A number of CDMA handsets were used during the tests, all handsets were standard output power (0.2 Watt handhelds).

Additionally, via the use of car kits, connection was made to an external marine antenna (6dB gain). The antennas used were purchased from a local company and are typical of those used in the marine environment.

Coverage comparisons with analogue could not be made in this marine test from Peak Alone as a result of the additional analogue base stations located around the Ulladulla area.

Tests were made in both handheld mode ie standing on the boat deck, as well as in the car kit connected to the external "high gain" marine antennas.

Call quality at both ends of the call was monitored during all tests.

Results and Observations

The test route commenced at Ulladulla (122 km from Peak Alone base station) and followed the coast south until at 93 km from Peak Alone the boat turned around and calls were established.

The boat then headed North along the coast moving away from the base station and calls were initiated in both handheld mode and from a unit fitted in a car kit (connected to external antenna).

Every 5 km, spot checks were made of speech quality at both ends of the call.

For handheld units, good quality calls could be made whilst standing on the boat deck outside the cabin to a distance of around 110 km from the Peak Alone base station.

These calls were made in a very noisy environment with engine, wind and wave noise present, yet the call quality as reported from the other end was very good, with only moderate noise detectable, further demonstrating the excellent background noise suppression and call quality of CDMA.

Beyond 105 km, call quality began to deteriorate on the handheld phones, but calls could still be reliably held.

The last handheld call was made at around 120 km at which time speech quality became marginal. Beyond this point the call dropped and no further calls on a handheld unit could be made.

For the units fitted into the car kit and connected to the external antenna, speech quality was found to be excellent until around 130 km where some degradation was detected.

At a distance of 132 km, the call was still holding. It had not dropped since the start of the test at 93 km from Peak Alone.

This clearly demonstrated the additional coverage range and reliability delivered through the use of a car kit fitted with an external antenna.

Conclusions

This test has clearly demonstrated that the Telstra CDMA network is not limited by any artificial range constraints and that the Nortel "Boomer Cell" is capable of delivering extended coverage over very long distances.

The marine test has shown that CDMA coverage to sea can be achieved at distances well in excess of 100 km from very high mountain top base stations.

CDMA coverage to around 130 km was achieved from the Peak Alone base station, beyond which the radio path is obstructed by the curvature of the earth.

CDMA call quality in a marine environment was found to be consistently good, with the background noise suppression being particularly useful in noisy environments.

[Andy]

That is very interesting; Thank you So much for this article!
Those sites must cost Telstra a fortune to build and maintain, but sites like this would be a great idea for U.S. carriers to use in desert areas and/or National Parks.

[royc]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

That is very interesting; Thank you So much for this article!
Those sites must cost Telstra a fortune to build and maintain, but sites like this would be a great idea for U.S. carriers to use in desert areas and/or National Parks.

If analog service is ever regulated out of exisitance in the USA, something like the Telstra CDMA sites could provide coverage over wide rural areas presently served by analog. Current digital technology (GSM or CDMA as implemented in the USA) is more limited in range than analog. I know that CDMA base stations have a parameter called cell radius. The base station will not register any phone or initiate any calls outside that radius, although calls already in progress can cross the radius limit and continue beyond it until the call eventually drops. Alltel usually set their cell radius to less than 10 miles. I don't know what the other CDMA carriers do. Maybe in remote areas the cell radius can be and is extended to more than 10 miles.

That raises an interesting question...what is the longest distance anyone has ever initiated and held on to a CDMA call in the USA? I've managed 13 miles or so (without an external amplifier) before Alltel reduced the cell radius on one of their towers in north central Ohio. Normally, 8-1/2 miles is about the limit in hilly terrain where I live. If I'm more than 8-1/2 miles away, analog will still work, but CDMA usually won't, even with a 3 watt amplifier.

royc

[Andy]

Now I'm confused, why would carriers in the U.S. reduce the cell radius, even out in the middle of nowhere, where it would be for their own benefit to go 'the extra mile'. I don't really see any problems of not have a cell radius in the middle of nowhere since, for example, capacity wouldn't be a problem...why do they do it? Also, how does the cellsite know whether you're 9.5 miles away from it or 10.3?? Sorry if this is a dumb question
I've held some calls from cellsites far away, I don't exaclty know how far, but Yellowstone is one example, Moab a different one...all on the Verizon network.

[royc]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

Now I'm confused, why would carriers in the U.S. reduce the cell radius, even out in the middle of nowhere, where it would be for their own benefit to go 'the extra mile'. I don't really see any problems of not have a cell radius in the middle of nowhere since, for example, capacity wouldn't be a problem...why do they do it? Also, how does the cellsite know whether you're 9.5 miles away from it or 10.3?? Sorry if this is a dumb question
I've held some calls from cellsites far away, I don't exaclty know how far, but Yellowstone is one example, Moab a different one...all on the Verizon network.

One reason to limit cell radius is to prevent a distant tower from trying to set up a call that a closer tower should handle. That's why I asked the question about how far anyone has successfully initiated a call from a CDMA tower. In Ohio, where I live, the cell radius is probably held to a smaller distance because there are more cell sites. Most of my experience with CDMA at long distances from a tower has been on Alltel's network. The other CDMA carriers may configure their base stations differently than Alltel. The last time I was in the west was 3-1/2 years ago, before I had a CDMA phone.

The base station knows how far away you are by the timing differences between the tower and return signal from the handset. I've read that the CDMA engineers call these time intervals "chips" or something like that. Anyhow, the base station can tell how far away you are and reject registration or call setup if you are beyond the radius setting.

royc