aroona

Digicel Papua New Guinea plan on a roll out of 3G or Wimax mobile web service in the next 6 months.  According to their product development manager it is not yet decided which technology will be selected for the service.

Their goal is to be PNG’s leading mobile data service provider.  At the moment Digicel mobile web data is available on GPRS enabled handsets and Digicel charge this data at the rate of PGK1.99 per MB (equivalent to AUD$0.82/MB)

To compare this to what option we have in Australia right now – Virgin Mobile offer 3G web access plans AUD$15 for 1GB of data (AUD$0.015/MB or 4toia per megabyte)

Mobile Web services currently available in PNG for mobile web access:

Digicel Web Access – GPRS – PGK1.99 per MB, to GPRS handsets or Digimodem (USB)
at PGK2 per megabyte, Im not even going to try this one out…….

Telikom X’Cess – 3G-CDMA – PGK0.20 per MB, to X’cess EVDO (USB)

I picked up a Telikom Xcess CDMA modem from Telikom Mt Hagen a couple of days ago and did some speed tests around Kagamuga (Mt Hagen, WHP, PNG) using www.speedtest.net (with nothing else running in the background, and connecting to the Brisbane server).

The modem itself is an ADU-510c (pictured right), and came with a USB extender and software disk.
I had to install  run it on Windows 7 in compatibility mode for Windows XP.

Results from speed tests so far:  (fastest download – 2270kbps at POM International airport)

May 25 Tuesday 530pm
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 40Kb/s Upload – 10kb/s
latency 453ms

May 25 Tuesday 545pm
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 310kb/s Upload – 10kb/s
latency 276ms

May 25 Tuesday 6pm
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 40kb/s Upload – 10kb/s
latency 1333ms

May 25 Tuesday 850pm
couldnt connect – verifying, terminated

May 27  Thursday 410pm
Raining
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 350kb/s Upload – 40kb/s
latency 244ms

May 27 Thursday 415pm
Raining
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 710kb/s Upload – 50kb/s
latency 244ms

May 27 Thursday 420pm
Raining
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 850kb/s Upload – 50kb/s
latency 284ms

May 27 Thursday 600pm
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 980kb/s Upload – 60kb/s
latency 229ms

May 27 Thursday 610pm
Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen
Download – 1290kb/s Upload – 60kb/s
latency 224ms

May 27 Thursday 710pm
Kagamuga
Download – 320kb/s Upload – 50kb/s
latency 235ms
May 27 Thursday 745pm
Kagamuga
Download – 860kb/s Upload – 50kb/s
latency 206ms

May 29 Saturday
Mt Hagen Squash Club
Time          Dwn (kbps)     Up(kbps)
400pm      1240                50
405pm        540                50
410pm       1460               60
415pm       1160               50
425pm      1740               60

May 30th

POM International Terminal

515pm     1430     70
520pm    1870     80
530pm     2270    80

Timeline of phones Ive owned:

2010 - Google Nexus One
2008 - iPhone 3G
2007 - Nokia N95 8GB
2006 - Sony Ericsson - W810i
2006 - Sony Ericsson - K750
2005 - Treo 180G
2004 - Nokia 6310
2003 - Nokia 3350
2000 - Nokia 5110

Campbell and others in the MAF Learning Technologies team (www.maflt.org) are exploring how to take advantage of mobile phones in ministry. In Papua New Guinea, Arnhem Land and Bangladesh mobile phones are very common with phone companies providing cheap, basic handsets in order to build their customer base.  In Bangladesh it is very common for people to have more than one mobile phone!

We are researching the options for installing Bibles onto mobile phones and also ways in which learning opportunities for isolated Christian leaders can be facilitated.

In New Zealand, Australia and other developed countries life can be very convenient.  From our smartphones we can access the internet, we have applications which connect and provide us with virtually whatever information we want to subscribe to.  I subscribe to podcasted sermons – these sermons arrive on my phone without me doing a thing, so that all I need to do is listen.

They connect us in community also – communities like Facebook and Twitter send updates to our phones and connect us to our friends and family wherever we are.  The world can certainly be small for us.  My teaching pastor lives in California.

But in un-developed countries like Papua New Guinea there are Christian leaders isolated geographically, socially and economically.  If we can help remove the barriers they have through the application of sustainable technology then we strive to.

Please pray that we will be discerning in assessing the needs of isolated Christian leaders and be wise in partnering with them and training organisations so that technology can enhance their opportunities for spiritual growth and the growth of the people they shepherd.

Novothink is selling an iPhone case called the “Surge” which has a built in solar panel able to

Surge - Solar Battery charging iPhone Case

recharge your device using solar energy.  If your phone is fully charged then the energy is stored into the Surge’s internal battery. The Surge internal battery can also be charged from a USB computer connection.

The Surge sells for about AUD$85, weighs 79grams and while I havent physically seen or touched one this doesnt seem like it would add too much bulk to the iPhone if requiring an additional power supply if in the bush.

This is the first solar charging cover I’ve seen for a mobile device, only problem is Im not sure how many people living in remote areas would be using an iPhone……

If you haven’t heard of the solar powered phone available in Africa check this link out.