Telstra’s 21Mbps Next G network: 21Mbps modems in 2009

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Thursday, 23 October 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! Although Telstra’s Next G network has operated at speeds of “up to” 14.4Mbps, only 7.2Mbps class devices have been available. But now that Telstra’s network will run at 21Mbps speeds by the end of the year, when will 21Mbps-class modems follow? Telstra, Qualcomm, Ericsson and mobile broadband modem manufacturer Sierra Wireless have jointly announced that a 21Mbps modem will enter “customer trials” in “coming months” with a “commercial launch to follow”. This means 21Mbps modems won’t arrive until sometime in 2009, leaving 7.2Mbps class devices running at only a third of the speed the network is capable of, although still twice as fast as Telstra’s competitors who currently only support 3.6Mbps class devices. That said, Telstra’s major competitors in Vodafone and Optus will have 7.2Mbps class networks too, but with Telstra at 21Mbps they are well behind in the speed stakes. The 21Mbps speeds are being delivered over an upgrade to existing HSPA technology (high speed packet access), with the upgrade known by three different names – HSPA+, HSPA Evolution or eHSPA, with the “e” standing for “evolved”. But when you talk about wireless networks, you always talk about latency, for wireless networks offer slow ping times for tracking the speed of packets across the network. While LTE (long term evolution) technology from Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Siemens and Ericsson is being designed as the successor to HSPA+ technology, and is meant to radically reduce ping times and deliver high speeds even at the edge of a network, LTE is still at least a couple of years and tens of millions, if not billions of dollars of investment away. So, it’s nice to know that in the meantime, HSPA+ will do more than just “significantly increase data speeds”, but also “reduces latency, boosts network capacity, and provides an enhanced user experience.” This means more bandwidth, which is ideal for “more data-intensive applications people commonly use on the internet today, including video downloads.” So, what does Telstra have to say about it, and where does this leave the National Broadband Network?! Please read on... << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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