Telstra’s new 4G LTE network is seeing rapid and popular adoption from the Australian public, with Telstra now announcing more than half a million active accounts since it went live just last year. Now, by way of celebrating, Telstra says that it plans to expand 4G LTE coverage in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth with new 4G sites launching in Bondi and in the North Shore rail tunnel in Sydney. All of this expansion will apparently bring 4G LTE coverage to one third of Australia’s population.
Until now 4G has been somewhat of a luxury, as many users who have signed up don’t get coverage 100% of the time, especially if they live outside the city centres and only travel within range for work. However, with the expansion of the network that could very well change.
Coverage expansion state-by-state
- Brisbane: Plan to more than double the coverage to stretch from Brisbane Airport in the East to Indooroopilly in the West and from Coopers Plains in the South to Chermside in the North.
- Gold Coast: New planned coverage stretching from Surfers Paradise in the East to Nerang in the West and from Tugun in the South to Hope Island in the North.
- Sydney: Plan to more than double the coverage to stretches from Manly in the East to Greystanes in the West and from Kogarah in the South to Hornsby in the North.
- Canberra: Planned coverage from Queanbeyan in the East to Duffy in the West and from Farrer in the South to Moncrieff in the North.
- Melbourne: Plan to more than double the coverage to stretch from Ringwood in the East to Werribee in the West and from Bentleigh in the South to Epping in the North.
- Adelaide: Plan to more than double the coverage to stretch from Magill in the East to Henley Beach in the West and from Torrens Park in the South to Broadview in the North.
- Perth: Plan to more than double the coverage, to stretch from Maida Vale in the East to Fremantle in the West and from Willetton in the South to Dianella in the North.
via Telstra
Telstra’s 4G LTE will soon be more like its NextG network was just a few years ago; a faster alternative to traditional 3G that many users will have constant access to. But with 4G it goes further than that. For many users, 4G may actually be faster than ADSL2+ and other fixed broadband, making it a viable alternative in many cases.
Already Telstra is reporting that many of its users have begun using their 4G smartphones as a primary source of web searching due to the super-fast speeds that 4G LTE offers. With over 160 000 Telstra 4G mobile phones already active in Australia, that makes for a lot of people who are turning away from their desktop in favour of a more mobile option.
As for those who have adopted 4G plans for their desktops or laptops the numbers are far more substantial, with a reported 340 000 active connections across Telstra’s fledgling network.
As far as demographics go things seem pretty even, with 56% of current adopters being male vs 44% female. 24% are between the ages of 18 and 29, 23.5% between 40 and 49 with 30-39 year olds coming in with 22% of the new Telstra 4G smartphone user base. It seems that people of almost all ages have an appreciation for the concept of faster mobile broadband speeds when out and about.