lohsenglte
Supremacy Member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2013
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IMDA only allocated rights to operate 3G/WCDMA to the Big Three. TPG is only allowed to operate on 4G/LTE and later technologies on their spectrum.I have an iPad Air 2 working well so far on TPG Mobile’s LTE data network, but it’s not a VoLTE device. This device supports both of what seem to be TPG’s LTE bands (8 and 40).
I’m sure they have their hands full, and I don’t know if the regulators would allow it, but it’d be pretty neat if TPG could light up a token 2G GSM 900MHz national network for global roamers (especially for emergency calls) and SMS. TPG’s LTE Band 8 allocation (900MHz) would allow them to pull this off using a very tiny bit of that allocation since it’s a GSM compatible allocation — and they could do it with barely enough for one or two low bitrate (AMR-WB 6.60 and GSM HR) voice channels, for example, and with no 2G data service (GPRS/EDGE) of course. And they could generate some global roaming revenue with that tiny bit of 2G, and they need revenue I’m sure. T-Mobile in the U.S. has done exactly this sort of thing, and it works well in combination with 4G LTE networks. (3G doesn’t work as well in pairing like this since it requires too much minimum frequency allocation.)
There are still probably tons of “naive” foreign workers and tourists arriving in Singapore with 2G phones that don’t work. Well, they could work, for very, very basic emergency-oriented service and for SMS. And all the phones that have problems with VoLTE — there are many — could at least get some basic SMS service (which TPG could charge for at certain tiers) in combination with LTE data.
On edit: I see Vodafone and Huawei are doing exactly this sort of thing (GSM/LTE) in Turkey also on 900MHz, with lots of LTE but a minimum viable/skeleton 2G GSM service. It’s just a wild idea to try to come up with ways TPG might find some revenue.
So even though possible in technical standpoint, licensing rights doesn't permit any of the four carriers to operate on GSM network.
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