As planned, the testing phase for the 3G technology started today and I was contacted, along with Mark & Chahe, by MTC Touch to take part in that testing.
I still did not receive any SMSes as the process might take few days, so we will have to wait before knowing how fast it is.
I was promised by a friend that he will activate the 3G feature on my Alfa line as well, which is great as I will have a chance to compare both.
I don’t mean to be snide or disrespectful in my comment: but since 3G adaptation has only just begun in Lebanon, I wonder if it would have been technically feasible to leap frog straight to 4G since hardware manufacturer have already started making 4G phones. The decision may have been driven by dollars also.
For now it is a great step towards new technology in Lebanon. I have tried the 3G today on MTC line, it is very fast and you can watch an HD video on youtube without waiting the video to load… waiting for a fast DSL too in the upcoming month.
btw, my colleagues got 3G activated today, they tried video calls and youtube streaming.. it was actually good and promising.. the question remains how good it will stay once it gets released to everyone..
I got the sms! too bad im in saudi! Ill try it when i get back
I had the chance to get my hands on it today, its really fast, and it seems promising, there’s alot of question about this service, but lets not get pessimistic, lets wait and see what will happen, hopefully it will be a descent service.
Ziad: yes, you are right, it is technically possible to jump directly from 2G (GPRS/EDGE) to 4G (LTE) without the need to go through 3G (UMTS). Bas let’s not be greedy and ask for too much, it’s enough that we are getting 3G 10 years late 🙂
We had the chance to try the MTC Touch 3G connection this evening in the area of Hamra. it was funny, we both hated and loved our friend who was ready to share the connection via his iPhone’s MyWi.
First impression was WOW I want it… we had 3 or 4 ipads connected, downloading updates, youtube, opening websites, we damn consumed every bit simultaneously, and it did not blink! All was running super smooth! there was an adrenaline rush and euphoria among us… then comes a moment of reality! in less than an hour, more than 750MBs were consumed! then came the question that remained unanswered…. what’s the cap?! we somehow initially thought it was 1GB and my friend was sweating! then we learned that it was 4GB (still unconfirmed) anyway we did drain those MBs at great speed… we were all excited, now we wanna know when do we get our hands on it…
a friend jokingly said, now that we have one less reason to bitch and moan about… but of course, as lebanese there will always be another excuse to bitch and moan about.
A 4GB cap is more then enough if you’re just using the 3G connection on your phone (my current contract here in Kuwait is 1GB and I never hit the limit with a lot of 3G phone use) but if you’re thinking of using the 3G connection to browse from home and download software/updates etc.. then 4GB is a joke. 4Gb would last me 2 days, less even. When my DSL company limited my home connection to 2.8GB a day I dropped them and went for a provider that was unlimited. So 4GB a month is useless..
Thx Khaled! 🙂
@khaled the cap is between 3 and 4 gbs according to the minister of telecommunications speech yesterday at SMW Beirut. I got an alfa 3G test line that is capped at 3GB so I guess the 4GB cap is for MTC.
My connection should be activated today so I can’t wait to test it! I am also going to posting updates about it on my blog and twitter if anyone is interested.
Btw MTC activated the service on existing lines but Alfa gave us separate SIMs with different phone numbers for testing.
I agree with Mark. I’m on a 1GB cap here in Dubai and I barely ever make it to 500MB in a month. However, access 3G through my laptop and I easily burn 100MB an hour. The 3-4GB is extremely generous but unlikely to ever be reached.
Is there any indication on pricing at the moment?
@ziad, you should know that the current alfa 3G is 3.5G, and mtc’s is 3.9
that’s very close to 4G. and unlike 2G and 3G, 4G isn’t officially approved by the FCC in the USA. there isn’t a theoritical definition of 4G yet. the title 4G network or 4G phones are only used for commercial purposes only.
you can read more about it on this following link: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/17/2g-3g-4g-and-everything-in-between-an-engadget-wireless-prim/
I think that once 3G will be officially live, a huge mess is going to happen, we will have to wait from around 3 months to get things clear and stable! What scares me is the price, so will 3G become one additional luxurious service which will increase the Gap between Lebanon’s Society members? NOT ONLY RICH PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET A 3G … 3G IS FAST BUT NOT A PORSCHE!
No one is gonna charge you 1000$ for 3G dude, it’s gonna be 50$ or even less maybe.