Telstra’s “world’s fastest wireless broadband” – again

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 17 February 2009 02:37

IT Industry - Market

On a 7.2Mbps class device, you could reliably expect to get speeds of between 500Kbps to 3Mbps, bursting to around 5Mbps depending on the files you were downloading and the location you were downloading them from.

Now, 14.4Mbps-class devices have been leapfrogged altogether, replaced by 21Mbps devices, which won’t be available to purchase until at least next Monday (February 23), with prices as yet unknown.

Does a 21Mbps-class wireless broadband modem mean speeds of 7.2Mbps, 10Mbps, faster, or slower?

Telstra says in its press release that consumers can expect real speeds of “8Mbps”, so we’ll be ensuring that Speedtest.net gets a real workout, as well as starting some large downloads (Linux distros, for example), just to see what kind of speeds we’re reliably getting.

Faster speeds are important for consumers and businesses, no matter where they are in Australia, and this leads to another question – how long will it be before the entire Next G footprint is upgraded to 21Mbps speeds?

No doubt Telstra has ensured all the major cities are 21Mbps capable, but what about all those other rural and regional areas around Australia? Are they 21Mbps already, or will they be progressively upgraded throughout the year?

And when Telstra says “42Mbps is coming later this year”, does this mean sometime in the fourth quarter, or does it really mean a 2010 rollout?

By the same token, when does Telstra expect to have its LTE network up and running, and how fast will this network be compared to Next G?

And just what kind of real world speeds can we expect a 42Mbps network to deliver... 16Mbps?

These are but some of the questions that will be asked at today’s press briefing. Check back later today for some answers!