Telcos especially 3G players often cringe with the thought of offering unlimited downloads. However in Russia, things are very different over there. Putting the 140% and “In Russia” jokes aside, one 3G telco by the name of Megafon had defied convention by encouraging its subscribers to push the limits of “Unlimited Downloads” with a contest from November 2011 till January 2012. As a reward, they are giving out 1 million rubles (about RM100,000) worth of prizes.

One subscriber managed to clocked 419GB downloads in a week and was rewarded an overseas trip worth 150,000 rubles (RM15,000). That’s almost 60GB a day or 2.5GB per hour which calculates an average of 5-6Mbps. The contest was also a publicity stunt by the telco to prove that it is capable of delivering high speed and unlimited usage nationwide. The 2nd and 3rd place winners came from small towns which proved its wide coverage into rural areas.

All this sounds too good to be true but a quick check on Megafon’s site reveals that the Unlimited Package isn’t without limitations. They have 3 plans on offer at 1Mbps (approx. RM35), 2Mbps (approx. RM55) and Uncapped speed (approx. RM75) options but there’s a certain limit of quota before it gets throttled to 64kbps.

For the highest unlimited plan, the allowed FUP quota increases depending on duration. The first month you’ll get 8GB before throttle and this will be increased gradually each month – 10GB, 12GB and 14GB (maximum). So the “all you can eat offer” was just a time limited promo. Nevertheless, it was a good way to promote its nationwide high speed 3G capabilities.

[ SOURCE, Photo Credit ]

Nepal, the home of Mount Everest has something new to shout about. Not only it has the highest mountain in the world, it also claims the highest 3G coverage as well. This is made possible by TeliaSonera, a Swedish telco which has just launched its 3G service called NCell in Nepal.

However this 3G coverage on the Everest does not cover all the way to the peak but instead it covers the starting point for climbers at 5,300 meters (17,388 feet). With this new 3G coverage, tens of thousands are able to stay connected where previously had to rely on costly satellite phones. At the launch, TeliaSonera mentions that they target to reach 90% coverage of Nepal population by end of 2011.

In Malaysia, Celcom did had a similar achievement. During its coverage roll out to East Malaysia, Celcom had 3G coverage all the way to the peak of Mount Kinabalu at 4,095 meters (13,435 feet), claiming the highest 3G coverage in the world at that time. Looks like that claim has been smashed by this new record.

[ SOURCE, 2 ]

Another update on 4G LTE in Malaysia. The Star reports that majority of the earlier mentioned 9 companies have been informed via fax that they have been allocated the 2.6GHz spectrum for 4G LTE use. This will only take effect on 1st January 2013 which is a long way to go, and time is something that the players need to roll out commercially. As mentioned earlier, the 9 companies are Maxis, DiGi, Celcom, U Mobile, P1, AMAX, YTL, REDtone and a new comer. Each of them will be getting 20MHz block of the spectrum.

2 years should give the players sufficient head start to evaluate vendors, conduct trials and plan out their coverage expansion. By 2013, we should have more 4G LTE devices in the market. Hopefully better than the Samsung Craft, the first 4G LTE phone.

[ SOURCE ]

The Star reports that the Malaysian government is expected to release 9 blocks of spectrum for 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) to 9 players soon.

The 9 companies are believed to be:

• 4 Mobile telcos – Celcom, DiGi, Maxis & U Mobile
• 4 WiMAX operators – AMAX, P1, REDtone & YTL
• a company believed to be linked to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukary

According to the paper’s source, each player will be getting 20MHz block of 2.5GHz and 2.6GHz spectrum which comprise the 70MHz and 120MHz blocks respectively, or a total of 190MHz.

Awarding 4G LTE to 9 companies is a big number and we wonder based on what merit that the spectrum is given. Looking at WiMAX itself, only half of the awarded operators are in commercial service while U Mobile, the newest mobile telco is still struggling to roll out its own 3G coverage nationwide. With the current scenario, we’re baffled to see them getting LTE spectrum when they can’t get their current 3G or WiMAX service covered properly. According to the report, the spectrum will be given to all so that nobody will be deprived from participating in rolling out 4G LTE. Strangely our very own Telekom Malaysia is not on the list.

Although we love competition, 9 seems to be too much for a country like Malaysia. Just recently Maxis & Celcom had started their own 4G LTE testing with its partners while DiGi says that they will focus on 3G first at the time being. We also wonder, what will happen to the WiMAX operators? Will they abandon WiMAX for LTE in future?

[ SOURCE ]

U Mobile, another 3G operator in Malaysia has extended its existing domestic roaming agreement with Celcom Axiata for another 3 years. Being one of the youngest telco, U Mobile has limited 3G coverage within the Klang Valley, Ipoh, Seremban and Johor. In areas where U Mobile doesn’t cover, it uses Celcom’s nationwide coverage but only for voice and sms. However it was mentioned that data service might be introduced on Domestic roaming later this year. We believe speeds while on domestic roaming would be EDGE or GPRS.

The agreement with Celcom was first signed in 2007, making it the first ever nationwide Domestic Roaming partnership in Malaysia. Then in December last year, U Mobile signed another domestic roaming agreement with DiGi which some expected this as a replacement for Celcom. With the recent announcement of extending agreement with Celcom, we wonder what happened to the roaming agreement with DiGi?

Read more on the DR extension here.

[ SOURCE ]

Apple’s “revolutionary” FaceTime for iPhone 4 is designed to work with WiFi only. Most people of course would want to use it on 3G and now there’s an easier way to make that happen.

All you need to do is jailbreak with the fairly easy Safari Browser method and download My3G from the Cydia for US$3.99. My3G is an app that fools your phone into thinking that your 3G connection is WiFi. If you’re not sure if this works for you, there’s a free trial version available.

If you’re wondering how much data do you use for FaceTime, 9to5mac has done a simple data calculation. For a 5 minute FaceTime call with lots of movement, it took about 14.7MB of data. That’s an average of about 3MB per minute. We won’t suggest using this without a generous mobile internet plan.

[ SOURCE, VIA ]

(UPDATE 1838hrs 16062010) Things are getting interesting with the Huawei E5830. We highlighted earlier that in DiGi’s FAQ about the device they’ve mentioned that it can’t function as a router while being plugged into a USB port. We even noted the question number – it was Q20 (Google Cached). We’ve discovered that DiGi have recently changed that question to now say that the E5830 can function as a router while being plugged in.

Before

After

Wonder if we can get our hands on one to really find out.

DiGi also added 2 more FAQ items clarifying that the MiFi device uses normal SIM and that it is not SIM-locked to DiGi’s network.

Original Post: When DiGi first announced that it’s opening pre-orders for the Huawei E5830 MiFi device, we’re pretty sure many of you were stoked.

Having reviewed a similar device – the D-Link DIR-457 – we’re convinced that a MiFi has its uses for those who run with multiple devices. We noted in our review that a MiFI type of device gave us tremendous flexibility and not need to fiddle with USB dongles every time you want to connect to the Internet is simply a joy.

Back to the Huawei E5830. At first sight the device is much better looking that the albino DIR-457. It looked much more compact as well. Performance wise it edges the DIR-457 slightly being able to deliver HSPA speeds of up to 7.2Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up. And by that criteria alone the E5830 would have been a been a better buy. But it’s not that simple.

In our earlier posting about the device, a number of readers have raised the question – can it be used while being charged? We set to find out what the deal is with the E5830 and clear the confusion once and for all.

So, can the E5830 be used while being charged? Well, yes and no. We found out that once you plug the device into a USB port (be it straight into a computer or into a power socket via an adapter), the E5830 stops functioning as a router and start working more like a USB dongle.

Based on our usage patterns, this is rather unacceptable. We would still want the device to function as a router even its plugged in. The flexibility of being able to keep the devices powered while still using it as a router is one of the strongest point of the D-Link and we’re perplexed with Huawei omitted such a key feature. With a battery life of a claimed 4 hours, you will come across situations where you need to charge the device while still using it. And when it comes to that, take it from us, you’ll find not being able to use WiFi a major pain.

And that’s not all, even when connected to the E5830, you do not have access to a web-based admin page. This means you’re not able to change the settings of the device on the fly via WiFi. If you wanted to change you SSID or enable MAC filtering, you’ll have to first plug the device into a USB port, open up the connection manager and then change the settings. We find this tremendously over complicated and completely unnecessary. We’d expect a MiFi to function in very much the same way as a WiFi router would and in this case, the DIR-457 delivers with ease. We can’t say the same about the E5830 though.

With the ability to double up as a storage device with a MicroSD card installed, we’re not to sure if the device needs to be plugged in for you to be able access the stored data. In contrast, the D-Link, which also takes in Micro SD up to 8GB, allows you to access that storage effortlessly via WiFi. We’ll only be able to tell you if this is the case with the E5830 when and if we get our hands on one.

In the Huawei, the flexibility of having a portable hotspot is severely hampered by all these weird functional limitations. We’re even more confused as to why would DiGi want to peddle such a compromised device. Perhaps they have their reasoning and we’d have to look at the plans that come with the device to see if we can close an eye to it’s limitation.

But for now, these are the basic necessity that we can’t live without in our router. That’s why the D-Link DIR-457 has now found a permanent spot in our gadget grab bag and it’s something we never leave home without. It is also the reason why we feel that if you’re looking for something similar, you need to read this first.

So, buyer, beware.

(UPDATE 1901hrs 16062010) It appears DiGi has amended Q20 in the MiFi pre-order page FAQ. It now says that the E5830 can still function as router while being charged (ie. Plugged into a USB port)

DiGi has announced that they are offering the Huawei E5830 MiFi device which allow users to share their 3G Connection over WiFi. This is a perfect bridge for WiFi powered device to work remotely on 3G network. You can make your own 3G powered WiFi hotspot from your pocket, which is perfect companion for WiFi version of iPad.

Don’t go rushing to DiGi centres yet as it is only open for pre-booking. You may pre-book at DiGi’s facebook group here.

DiGi is claiming this offering as Malaysia’s First ever Mobile WiFi, which we believe is First only for telco bundling. MiFi devices or mobile 3G to WiFi routers have already been on our shores for quite some time. Not too long ago, we’ve reviewed a D-Link DIR-457 Pocket WiFi Router here.

Some key noticable features of the Huawei E5830 Mifi:

• Supports HSDPA 7.2Mbps Downlink and HSUPA 5.76Mbps Uplink
• 802.11b/g
• Can’t be charge while in use (FAQ Q.20)
• Battery last up to 4 hours
• Supports up to 5 devices connected simultanously

Read more about it here.

There’s been a lot of debate in the local Internet scene on 4G. Many are saying that WIMAX is not really 4G and that its wrong for some operators to claim that their WiMAX network is a 4G network…bla bla bla.

The thing is, it doesn’t matter, all the “Gs” are not ratified standards anyway – they are all marketing terms, used by the telcos to make the networks easier to understand. No layman is going to understand or remember IEEE 802.16, GSM, CDMA, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA, EVDO, WCDMA and all the other multitude of standards out there, the numbers are just mind blogling.

To us 3G…4G…5G…or whatever telcos want to call their network is not important, its just marketing. What’s important is how the network delivers in term of performance, relibility and coverage and right now both the 3G and 4G networks in this country still have some work to do.

But what is the difference between a 3G and 4G network? Here’s a video of an interesting news report by CNN giving us a behind the scene look at the differences between the two networks.

Watch the video after the jump.

[picture credit]

DiGi’s Head of Strategy and New Business, Albern Murty said DiGi’s broadband coverage now stands at 31% of Penang’s population with plans to cover the whole of Penang by August.

DiGi 3G broadband covers Tanjung Tokong, along Gurney Drive, Penang International Airport, Queensbay Mall and parts of Georgetown.

DiGi says it has invested in High-Speed Packet Access technology to deploy a 14.4 Mbps for fast download and upload speeds of up to 2Mbps.

We’re a bit sceptical about the 31% population coverage in Penang though, as the source didn’t specifically say if its 3G or DiGi’s EDGE service combine. Remember, before 3G, DiGi claims EDGE service as broadband as well.

No words on other states in the report.

Read SoyaCincau’s coverage on DiGi Broadband:
DiGi 3G Network Discovered
DiGi to Launch 3G Services by End March 2009
DiGi 3G Broadband: 7.2Mbps Mobile Internet Revealed
DiGi 3G Broadband Official Packages
DiGi 3G Broadband Extends Pre-Promo Coverage in PJ
DiGi 3G Broadband Now with 50GB Quota

More onfo on DiGi Broadband plans and packages HERE.

[Source, Source II]