Telstra brings broadband to the backseat of your car

Joseph Hanlon - Editorial Director

Last updated 20 July 2015

Telstra today announced a new mobile broadband product, aimed at powering the tablets in the backseat of your car.

Going by the awkward moniker ‘Telstra Pre-Paid 4GX Car Wi-Fi’, the product seems to be a a standard USB modem stick with an extra attachment to power the modem off the cigarette lighter in your car.

Once powered, the modem can connect up to five devices to the Telstra 4GX network.

This may seem like a less-than-perfect way for Telstra to introduce the internet into the automobile, but it does mark a direction we expect to see more and more from the Aussie telcos.

As the smartphone market saturates, and makes it hard for telcos to score new customers, Connected Cars are the next frontier for mobile broadband.

US telco AT&T announced a partnership with Audi at the beginning of the year to pre-install embedded SIM cards in up to 200,000 new cars, with all 2016 models to include the feature. Customers buying a connected Audi pay $20 per month for 4G data.

There's little doubt that Telstra is gearing up for similar opportunities locally, along with competitors Optus and Vodafone.

Head over to Telstra to take a look at its in-car broadband modem

Joseph Hanlon

Editorial Director | X | LinkedIn

Joe Hanlon has been immersed in mobile phones, plans and the internet for over a decade, having written for publications like CNET, Techradar, Gizmodo and Lifehacker. He steers the editorial ship and makes sure that we are always serving up the most useful guides and recommendations. If you ever bump into Joe on the street, don't be afraid to ask for a phone recommendation. It's embarrassing how much he enjoys talking about this stuff. He also loves listening to podcasts, so feel free to email Joe with recommendations.

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