Telstra’s new USB modem ready for Next G speed boost

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 12 September 2008 08:54

IT Industry - Strategy

Faster speeds are promised, with Telstra indicating the modem won’t be upgradeable to a 21Mbps class device, which clearly means it will get an upgrade to 14.4Mbps class status.

The modem will also “be upgradeable to 5.76Mbps uplink speeds, when this capability is provided by Sierra and Qualcomm”, according to a Telstra spokesperson, indicating future upgrades mean faster speeds for both uploads and downloads.

This is good news as previous upgrades have only increased download speeds, but clearly there will be some time to wait before upgrades come, as indicated below.

It looks like 14.4Mbps-class devices will soon become the norm, with 21Mbps-class devices yet to come, mirroring the situation of the past several months where 7.2Mbps-class devices were the fastest available despite a 14.4Mbps-class network capability.

But whatever the actual delivery timeframe of 14.4Mbps and 21Mbps-class devices, the fact that the speeds are still the fastest that 3.5G wireless networks can currently go is still a pretty amazing achievement which Telstra’s competitors are yet to emulate.

Telstra Business, Group Managing Director, Ms Deena Shiff explained the benefits of fast wireless connections in the Telstra press release, which we’ve all heard before and understand the benefits of, but the most important thing she is quoted as saying is the statement that: “Importantly, the device is upgradable to take advantage of faster network upload speeds in coming months.”

Given that the end of 2008 will be with us in three-and-a-half months, I’m hoping that Shiff’s “in the coming months” statement means this 3.5-month timeframe, instead of 2009, although ultimately an extra month here or there won’t really make that much of a difference.

Dan Schieler, the senior vice president of Worldwide Sales for Sierra Wireless was also wheeled out to make a statement, noting that: “We are pleased to work with Telstra again to deliver another mobile broadband solution to Telstra customers.

“With on-board software installation, the ability to store and transfer data, and a small, attractive design, the Turbo 7+ Series USB Modem and Telstra’s Next G™ network empower mobile data customers to make the most of their time and work productively wherever they are.”

So, the cost? Please read on to page 3.