Future EDGE Phones?

[Dolby]

As mentioned on another thread, I managed to setup my GPRS usage last night with a Bluetooth P800. Line speed was 50.1kpbs which was great, as I think this is near the max. The best part is ... the price! Last night I spent 2 hours on mIRC which cost a straggering 35c ... compared to R24 has I used Telkom!

Anyway, my question is this : I have a Samsung D500, SE P800 and a SE T68i. Are none of these EDGE? I've read on this forum that Vodacom have mentioned EDGE is old and obsolete, and 3G is the way forward. If this is true, surely we won't get EDGE phones in future?

By the way, since I was charged 35c for the 350kb I used on mIRC, does this mean MTN charge per 'kb' and quote per Meg?

[Dolby]

Just adding to my post ...

I've read up and it seems EDGE is software only. Is this true?

[wantedz]

I know the new Palm Treo 650 is Edge enabled

[ajax]

As mentioned on another thread, I managed to setup my GPRS usage last night with a Bluetooth P800. Line speed was 50.1kpbs which was great, as I think this is near the max. The best part is ... the price! Last night I spent 2 hours on mIRC which cost a straggering 35c ... compared to R24 has I used Telkom!

Anyway, my question is this : I have a Samsung D500, SE P800 and a SE T68i. Are none of these EDGE? I've read on this forum that Vodacom have mentioned EDGE is old and obsolete, and 3G is the way forward. If this is true, surely we won't get EDGE phones in future?

By the way, since I was charged 35c for the 350kb I used on mIRC, does this mean MTN charge per 'kb' and quote per Meg?

If you are not constantly downloading, GPRS is a lot cheaper than dialup, especially in peak times.

Best to Google for some specifications on those phones, or contact the manufacturer directly. If the phone is older that about a year or so then chances are it will be GPRS only.

Most 3G handsets that I know of have EDGE too. MTN is still rolling out EDGE, I would not be worried about the future absence of EDGE handsets.

MTN charges per byte, I think, but a connection fee of a whole 1c is charged every time you connect (compare with Melkom's 59c ripoff).

[MTNBroadband]

As mentioned on another thread, I managed to setup my GPRS usage last night with a Bluetooth P800. Line speed was 50.1kpbs which was great, as I think this is near the max. The best part is ... the price! Last night I spent 2 hours on mIRC which cost a straggering 35c ... compared to R24 has I used Telkom!

Anyway, my question is this : I have a Samsung D500, SE P800 and a SE T68i. Are none of these EDGE? I've read on this forum that Vodacom have mentioned EDGE is old and obsolete, and 3G is the way forward. If this is true, surely we won't get EDGE phones in future?

By the way, since I was charged 35c for the 350kb I used on mIRC, does this mean MTN charge per 'kb' and quote per Meg?

Here are the rules from MTN billing that apply to the new data tariffs:-

Packet switched data usage will be billed as follows:

o Packet switched data usage (data sent and received) will be billed per byte, per session.

o A minimum of 1 byte per day will be billed, if a session was open but no data was transferred (from 00:00 to 23:59).

o Where a session remains active over the 23:59:59 to 00:00:00 time period each day, a billable record will be generated as if the session was closed. The network will however keep the session active, and a new billable record will be generated for the same session, counting from 00:00:00.
o Charges are rounded up to the nearest cent, per session i.e. a minimum charge of R0.01 applies to each new session.

[MTNBroadband]

Just adding to my post ...

I've read up and it seems EDGE is software only. Is this true?

EDGE is fundamentally a radio-link technology.

It is more than software-only requiring an extensive investment to roll out. On the other hand it is partly 'software' because MTN planned the roll out some time ago and activated it recently.

Another major investment is the backhaul links which require additional capacity and this also has hardware implications.

EDGE is a modern technology which I believe will have more industry support over time rather than less. Nokia has EDGE as a standard feature on most of their handsets and other suppliers are catching up.

EDGE is an important part of MTN's multi-bearer strategy. We are accelerating GPRS speeds with GPRS+ so that the >2 million current users (with GPRS+ compliant handsets) have a potentially faster experience, introducing EDGE to provide widespread coverage to the 300 000+ existing users with handsets (and growing fast) and launching 3G for the higher-density areas to maximise voice and data efficiency.

If you have a GPRS or EDGE device (I have provided the list elsewhere) and you are in EDGE coverage (eg you get the Y'ello Broadband cell broadcast) then you would most probably want the fastest speeds you can get from your device today.

[MTNBroadband]

I have a Samsung D500, SE P800 and a SE T68i. Are none of these EDGE?

The standard Samsung D500 is not EDGE enabled. Samsung did make an EDGE variant called the D500e but they distributed that in specific countries in Europe.

The P800 and T68i are 'pre-EDGE'

I have asked our handset specialist to set up a special thread on handsets which provides more depth.

[Dolby]

MTNBroadband ...

The reason I asked about it being software only, is because I've been reading a few sites about the Samsung D500 and D500e. According the sites, the standard Samsung D500 was shipped WITHOUT EDGE - and the 'e' version was WITH EDGE - just as you mentioned.

Many people asked if they could have EDGE on the standard D500 by flashing it with 'e' firmware. One person replied and said since it is only software, it only had to be enabled. He posted a code to access GPRS menu and activate something called EGPRS (which say is EDGE).

I went into this menu - and there is EGPRS which CAN be activated! However, I can't get my D500 to hook up to me PC ... so I can't test to see if it works

Of my phones (P800, T68i, D500 and 6230 (EDGE)) only 2 can connect - namely both Sony Ericssons. The 6230 tried to connect but then says 'GPRS access point not valid' and disconnects and the D500 won't even attempt to connect. I've heard the D500 isn't good when it comes to GPRS though ... so at this stage I'll stick with my SE's as internet phones

[brooko]

mmm, it would be very interesting if this is possible.... I wounder if its possible to activate this option on slightly older samsung phones??

[MTNHandsets]

Hi,

First of all, an apology for starting a new thread about this... sorry.

I started a new thread, imaginatively entitled "MTN Handsets" (hey, I am a technical guy) in order to introduce myself. In the process I did answer some of Dolby's questions regarding the D500.

I don't believe there are any older Samsung's that could theoretically support EDGE. EDGE support in products is possible purely based on the capabilities of the radio chipset in that product. The D500 is the first (in our market area) Samsung that has the EDGE capable chipset.

Please check the other thread for some more information.