Telstra has announced their plan for a 2011 rollout of a new LTE “4G” network. LTE (meaning Long-Term Evolution) is a wireless technology that has recently become extremely popular in the US and offers transfer rates of up to 60mbs, that’s over seven times the speed most of Australia’s current 3G wireless network.
This is great news for Aussies, as many of the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung and HTC, are beginning to focus a decent portion of their development budgets in to adopting 4G technology such as LTE.
While it is true that whether or not an LTE network could be accurately billed as “4G” technology is debatable, it’s still exciting news for Australians. Especially so for those who live in metro areas, as more densely populated areas are sure to be the target of network upgrades before anywhere else.
So what does all this mean? In an area with good reception LTE offers speeds that actually supersede what you would expect from a landline ADSL2+ connection. While it’s certainly nothing compared to the NBN’s promised 1Gbs connection speeds, it’s still a great stepping stone for Australia until (or if) our new optical fibre network is up and running.
However, don’t think this tale is all sugar coats and fairy blossoms, a network such as this by the end of 2011 (as Telstra believes it will be operational by then) will be expensive to implement. Be sure that customers will be paying for the privilege of LTE wireless connections, be it in phones or mobile modems, until Optus or one of the other contending Telco’s can get their own version up and drive prices down with competition.
Alex Angove-Plumb
Digital Content Editor
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