Stuart Corner
Monday, 02 October 2006 09:51
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 3
This phrase or similar keeps getting trotted out like a mantra every time anyone mentions Telstra's new 850MHz 3G network, and its inseparable companion is that "the network will cover 98 percent of population".
Therefore 98 percent of the population will be able to get wireless broadband access at 14.4Mbps. No they will not, and it really is time some qualification was placed on these claims.
What particularly raised my ire this morning was yet another article on the 850MHz network which made the comment "its advertised speed will be a pedestrian 3.6Mbps initially (3.6Mbps pedestrian? Tell that to ADSL customers) but it will ramp up to 14.4Mbps in the first half of next year and ultimately to 20Mbps."
This 14.4Mpbs is a theoretical maximum for a peak rated under deal conditions. It does not mean that 98 percent of Australians could watch a movie over the 3G link streaming at 14.4MBps, or anything anywhere near it.
Here's what one of the leading vendors, Nortel said about HSDPA: "HSDPA will empower UMTS networks by providing higher data rates and lower latency to end users....HSDPA will go beyond [384kbps] with an average throughput of 800 kbps and even 1.5 Mbps in the field due to high peak data rates with 3.6 Mbps for a Category 6 Mobile and up to 14.4 Mbps for a Category 10 Mobile."
