Hutchison has cut the time it gives customers to reconnect to a number following a network drop-out by 75 percent, from 60 seconds to 15 seconds.
While Hutchison 3G customers that spoke to ZDNet Australia about the change of policy described it as "unfair," the carrier claims its network is now solid enough to justify the shortened reconnection time.
"The line is so much more stable it's no longer necessary to compensate people because the lines are not dropping out. If the line does drop out and people need to reconnect then that 15 second time-frame is adequate for them to call back," said a spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that according to the company's data, call drop-outs on the 3G network had fallen by 9 percentage points -- from 12 percent to just 3 percent of calls -- and that most customers reported being able to reconnect calls within 15 seconds.
However, one Sydney-based professional that has been using the 3G service since its launch said that it frequently took longer than a minute to re-establish calls lost in zones where the carrier's coverage was still weak.
Exacerbating customer difficulties, the customer said many of the carrier's 3G handsets require software upgrades to optimise their reconnection speed.
"That's certainly not the feedback we've been getting. If they are having problem and they call us, we'll look at it," said the spokesperson.
Rubbish 3
If the dropout rates are so low, why bother dropping the recall time? The fact is that when your phone jumps from a 3 tower to a vodafone tower (roaming), the call will drop. This is because the 3G - 2.xG handover hasnt been implemented (probably because they can't agree on the method or who should foot the bill for the implementation).
After the call drops, you get "Call Failed" for the next 30 seconds or so. Good luck reconnecting your call in 15 seconds. At least when it was a minute, you stood a chance of not paying the flagfall.
And remember this is 30 second billing, so if you talk for 2:05, then get cut off, call back and talk for 2:20, you will be billed for 5 minutes (2:30 + 2:30) even if the flagfall is waivered. This calculation doesnt even consider the fact that you have to spend 20 seconds of the 2nd call working out where the other party heard up to before you can continue your conversation.
Oh and one last thing. Frequently, the calls do not drop, but one party is no longer able to hear the other. This is technically not a "dropped call" in the stats. Depending in what part of Sydney I am in on a given day, these technically non-dropped calls would make up nearly 1/4 of my phone calls, and on one or two days, it was over half of my phone calls.
Sometimes I have to wonder whether these guys actually use the mobile network they run.
Shame on you 3 ...