Telstra sets 4G/LTE free at the same price as 3G

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 08 August 2011 16:17

Your IT - Mobility

Although Telstra's 3G (or Next G) prices are higher than its competitors, Telstra's networks and devices are still faster than the rest, and with 4G's 'early' arrival for 2000 'CBD' business customers prior to the wider national launch, those users can now choose to go faster still!

No, it's not an NBN killer, but simply Telstra installing the latest commercially available and commercially deployed wireless communication technology, known as 4G and as LTE, or Long Term Evolution.

Although LTE speeds aren't supposed to qualify as 'true 4G', they've come to be marketed that way as they offer a genuine improvement over existing 3G and 3.5G networks: lower latency and faster speeds than is possible with existing 3.xG technologies.

While LTE is more like '3.9G' or '3.95G', it's going to be sold as 4G for now, as is being done in the US and elsewhere.

The 'real' 4G is supposed to come with LTE-A, or 'Long Term Evolution - Advanced', which is relatively easy for Telstra to upgrade to when available, although new USB modems will presumably be required to take full advantage when LTE-A comes.

I guess we now know what comes next after Next G'¦ 4G. Will LTE-A be 4G+? And how soon before 5G comes along'¦ or is that a DIDO network instead?

Still, all of that is yet to come, and instead of having to wait for those analog TV frequencies to be freed up in 2013, a year none of us are yet we'll live through thanks to those pesky Mayans and their predictive calendars of doom, 4G is coming to us this year.

That's because Telstra is using the 'old', existing 2G 1800MHz frequency for 4G/LTE deployment, with those new frequencies to come able to be added to existing phone towers through whatever hardware upgrades are necessary.

The 4G/LTE modems also fall back to 3G frequencies when you're not in range of LTE, starting off with the DC-HSPA+ standard, then falling back to HSPA+ and then HSPA, which Telstra says covers '99% of the population', depending on signal strength, your location and other factors, although naturally the modem will always attempt to connect to the fastest speed and technology that the closest tower has available.

So, with the first 4G/LTE base stations having been switched on in May, Telstra has no doubt been busily testing everything and ensuring that they'll have stocks of 2000 4G USB modems when sales commence on August 29.

Only business users in the CBD's of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will have access to the service, as coverage only stretches for 5 kms from each CBD's GPO.

Continued on page two, please read on!