Telstra ups Next G to 6Mbps, takes it ship-side

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 25 September 2007 06:30

Your IT - Home IT

Telstra has launched new Next G data cards offering burst download speeds up to 6Mbps and has extended Next G coverage to "iconic locations": Cradle Mountain, Marble Bar and the Sprit of Tasmania ferry.

The new cards, available in USB and ExpressCard formats, support HSDPA at a theoretical maximum of 7.2Mbps downstream. Telstra says they will delver download speeds bursting up to 6Mbps and, for the first time, upload speeds bursting up to 1.3Mbps, (previous maximum 384kbps). Most existing Next G data cards will be upgradeable to the new download speed, and Next G mobile handsets will also soon support the higher speeds.

More specifically, Telstra says the new cards provide typical download speeds averaging 550kbps to 3Mbps. Existing Next G devices manufactured by Sierra Wireless, Maxon and ZTE, will be able to support the higher speeds with "an easy upgrade over the Internet," according to Telstra. (The earliest Next G cards were made by Option).

The new devices are from Sierra Wireless and are known as the AirCard 880E (ExpressCard) and AirCard 880U (USB). They are compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Vista and Mac OS X 10.4 or later.