Telstra's Next G handset ticks: now in 'shades of blue'

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 28 February 2008 08:24

Your IT - Home IT

Telstra is now providing more nuanced information on Next G handset performance than simply blue ticking those handsets it recommends for use in areas of low signal strength. The move follows an ACMA report which investigated handset performance and found many Next G handsets performed very poorly in comparison to the CDMA products they were being sold to replace. Telstra has refused to allow the ACMA report to be released with the handset makes and models identified.

However, as part of a series of commitments it has made to the government to ensure it is permitted to close its CDMA network on 28 April, the Next G web site now provide information on each handset model recommending where it should be used.

The best performing, blue-ticked, handsets are all "recommended for rural handheld coverage outside regional centres and towns." The worst-performing non-blue ticked units are "recommended for handheld use in metropolitan and major regional areas." And there are now a number of handsets with performance somewhere between these two extremes. They do not carry a blue tick but are "Recommended for handheld use in regional areas."

Finally, there is one model, the Telstra 850 that carries no usage recommendation at all (not to be confused with the HTC Touch Dual 850 which is recommended for handheld use in metropolitan and major regional areas) .