EDITORIAL: Vita 3G Region Locking Is a Worldwide Mess
- Scribbled on January 12th, 2012 by Jordan Lund
- Filed in Editorial Content, Industry News, Sony PlayStation Vita
Now that we know how the Vita data plan works through AT&T in the United States, news is coming out of Australia that they will be linked to the carrier Vodaphone.
This is causing problems for Australia’s largest electronics retailer, JB Hi-Fi, as they are a Telstra exclusive shop. They have since contacted everyone who pre-ordered the 3G version of the Vita and cancelled the orders as they will not stock the Vodaphone-branded product.
We aren’t sure how well the Vita is going to do in Australia if JB doesn’t carry the 3G model. Surely that’s something Sony should have considered before inking the Vodaphone contract.
If you’re thinking that you can get around that problem by simply importing a 3G device from another region – hold on – not so fast! While it’s true that the Vita is not region locked for games, the 3G service IS, in fact, region locked.
So when you add all that news together, it shouldn’t be any surprise that when Sony announced that AT&T was the exclusive 3G Vita carrier in the United States at CES they were met with audible boos from the audience.
Sony probably thought they were safe, offering the same data plan and carrier for the Vita that currently exists for the iPad. 250MB for $15 or 2GB for $25. The tech savvy audience wasn’t having any of it as AT&T is known for having the worst service quality of any of the major carriers. Plus, since the 3G Vita is carrier locked, you don’t have the option of switching to someone else, any more than the folks in Australia can switch away from Vodaphone.
It doesn’t look like Sony does any kind of research at all when it comes to carrier selection. Why would they intentionally exclude themselves from Australia’s largest electronics shop? Why would they intentionally go with an American carrier known to be the worst of the bunch?
The good news is that while the European version of the Vita will also come with a Vodaphone sim, it will reportedly not be locked to Vodaphone. So if you prefer you can switch the carrier of your choosing.
Why not give that option to everyone else? 3G PS Vita machines sold in Asia and Japan will not function outside those regions, so you may as well just import the WiFi version.
January 13th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
let me educate you on network infrastructure a bit:
the US uses GSM networks while, for instance, japan uses PDC networks,you cant just connect a PDC device to a GSM network and expect it to work.
while sony could put a quadband in so that vita could work anywhere in the world, it just wouldnt be fiscally responsible for them to do so, one of the only reasons for quadband phones in japan is for businessmen who travel and must keep in touch, vita doesnt really fit that mold of businessman who travels a lot thing, so its limited to japanese PDC networks, which doesnt limit any content. its a hardware limitation, not a software limitation, sony cant just change it overnight
next time do some research on the real world before you make an article, much of whats done in the gaming world has some correlation to whats happening in the real world
January 14th, 2012 at 4:35 am
The purpose of the article was to show hos Sony made significant errors in their CARRIER selection, not their technology selection. Sorry that point slipped by you.
January 16th, 2012 at 10:02 am
[...] WiFi model will cost AUD $349.95, and the 3G-enabled version will cost AUD $449.95. As Jordan Lund noted, the preferred partner for the 3G model will be Vodafone, but it seems that customers will be able [...]