Cell C has upgraded JHB... finally!

I never thought I would see this day...

A bit earlier today, my phone started showing a small 3G icon just below the network signal.
"Could it be?"... I wondered in a cautious, yet ever so slightly hopeful manner...

So I quickly located a 3MB song online on my phone, and downloaded it... in 10 seconds flat!
That equates to roughly 300 Kilobytes (or 3 Megabits) per second, and that means that Cell C have finally delivered on their promise of a JHB rollout of their HPSA+ network.

At last my previously stunted Nokia N97 can now download data at full speed - and from the first impression it is pretty darn quick!

Oh and in case you are wondering why I only got 3Mbps in download speeds (Cell C have boasted about speeds up to 21Mbps), it is because the Nokia N97 only supports data speeds up to 3.6Mbps.
If I wanted to test out the maximum speed of the Cell C data network, I would need to get myself one of those new USB data modems that Cell C is offering on their new data bundles...

So unless Cell C maybe decide to offer me the opportunity to try one of those out (hint, hint), I will have to just make do with what I have for now :)

In any case, well done and "big up" (as they say in the States) to Cell C - this has been a long time in the making and I hope that it pushes you guys way ahead of the competition!

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...and still Cell C keeps on yapping but not delivering...

For ages now I have been following the Cell C 3G (now supposedly 4G) debacle, initially with great interest, but of late more with sarcasm and doubt.

Having been in touch with customer liaison officers, retentions departments etc. etc. blah blah at the company, all I ever seem to get from this rather dodgy company is empty promises and a whole lot of nonsense.

Back in February 2010 I was hopefully blogging away about the prospect of Cell C getting 4G - and here we still sit waiting (not so patiently) 6 months later.
In that time, not much if anything has happened to change or improve the dire state of affairs that is the Cell C data network.
Instead, a lot of hogwash hype has been generated for the media to willingly lap up:

- Comedian Trevor Noah has been appointed as the company "CEO" (that's Customer Experience Officer... how clever of you Cell C); He will be hearing from me soon when I send him a link to this post...
- Cell C now sports a new look and a new logo;
- The "4Gs" logo adorns the Cell C site all over the place, although in reality there is no such offering as yet on the Cell C network.
Personally I still crawl along at barely-EDGE speeds on a phone which is capable of a lot more...
Clicking on the "Internet - 4Gs" link on the Cell C site, takes you to a page which boldly proclaims:

"The future of mobile services is here, thanks to Cell C. We are proud to announce that Cell C is the first cellular operator in the country to roll out a 4Gs network..."

Ok Cell C - your customers are now just fed up. You claim that 4Gs is here... WHERE???

Is it only available to a few selected square metres of barren land somewhere in the Karoo? 

How about a real rollout in major metropolitan areas like ummm.. JHB maybe? Cape Town? Durban? Have you heard of those places?

All it takes is a bit of communication with the same people who actually pay the Cell C salaries at the end of the day. A countdown to 4G launch, an ETA of some kind, ANYTHING to give us an idea of what the heck is going on and when we can expect to have access to data speeds that are at least close to first world!

Cell C - your customers are getting tired of waiting for your empty promises to be fulfilled...

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Cell C pins April as launch date for "4G"...

This topic has been flying around "the interweb" (thanks to "Die Antwoord" for that one :)) a lot lately.
The question is whether or not Cell C is going to make a move beyond their current EDGE data offering on their network.

Talk is rife of Cell C launching "4G" sometime soon, with data download speeds in the region of 21Mbps (approx. 3 times faster than the current Vodacom and MTN offerings).
In truth this is not actually 4G (4th Generation), rather an advanced version of 3G (3rd Generation).
Now a lot of very important people are unhappy about this apparent deception, this sneaky and devious attempt to fool and mislead the consumer!!
They say "That's not 4G, it's 3.75G!! OMG Cell C are doing us out of 0.25G!!"

Get over yourselves guys, the bottom line here is that Cell C (if they do indeed deliver), will be bringing some seriously high-speed mobile internet access to the general public.
That's a good thing. Don't try and bring a good thing down.

Honestly I don't really care if it is TRUE 4G, as long as it's flippin' fast!

p.s. I heard a rumour today that April 2010 is the launch month for Cell C's new data network... hold thumbs and watch this space!

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Is Cell C getting 4G...?

For many years I have been a loyal Cell C supporter, despite their lack of anything faster than EDGE on their data network.
Cell C have also constantly advised me that 3G is coming soon, not sure EXACTLY when they say, but soon.

That was back in 2008.

So now, 2 years on, I did a little poking, prodding and prying, and a rumour has emerged which claims that Cell C may in fact completely skip 3G (and 3.5G), and launch 4G sometime during 2010...
Now if this turns out to be true, it will be quite an awesome move on the part of Cell C, who up till now have lost a lot of customers based on data speeds inferior to those of MTN and Vodacom, who both currently offer 3.5G (or 3G HSDPA).

Not sure what I'm talking about?
Courtesy of the guys over at Wikipedia:

"4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards.
It is a successor to 3G and 2G standards, with the aim to provide a wide range of data rates up to ultra-broadband (gigabit-speed) Internet access to mobile as well as stationary users."

So in layman's terms, 4G is flipping fast mobile internet - the next step up from HSDPA - and therefore faster than anything we currently have available to us in South Africa.

Come on Cell C - your loyal customers await news of 4G!!

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Bluetooth, WLAN, 3G, GPS, DSTV, FM Radio... are we frying our brains? And why the name "Bluetooth"?

We live in a world of interference - the air around us is constantly filled with invisible signals transmitting large amounts of information to and from our radios, PC's, TV's, GPS receivers... the list just goes on and on.

Is it then unreasonable to suggest that these signals can somehow interfere with our bodies, and indeed our brain - something that is effectively one huge electrical circuit?

Specifically, I wonder what effect Bluetooth headsets have on the body - Google it and you will find hundreds of cases where users have complained of headaches and other physical symptoms after using a Bluetooth headset in conjunction with their cellphones.

Trouble is, scientists are still trying to work out how the brain actually works!
That's a bit scary - if we are not even sure how our brains function, how can we be sure that the wireless technologies of today have no effect?
See what Wikipedia have to say on the topic.

Onto something a bit lighter - have you ever stopped to think about the name "Bluetooth"? Why on earth use such a name for a short-range wireless technology? The answer actually makes for some interesting reading:

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"The word Bluetooth is an anglicised version of Swedish or Danish Blåtand, the epithet of the tenth-century king Harald I of Denmark and Norway who united dissonant Danish tribes into a single kingdom. The implication is that Bluetooth does the same with communications protocols, uniting them into one universal standard.
Although blå in modern Scandinavic languages means blue during the viking age it also could mean black. So a historically correct translation of Old Norse Harald Blátönn would rather be Harald Blacktooth than Harald Bluetooth.

The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune merging the Germanic runes (Hagall) and (Berkanan)."

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