Subject to ACCC approval, Optus is going to lay down a hefty chunk of change for Vividwireless. What does that do to Australia’s 4G landscape? Updated: Now with Optus’ clarifications on its announced 4G plans, including what the future holds for 700Mhz LTE.
Although it isn’t growing at quite the same clip as Telstra, Optus has also seen an impressive growth in its mobile broadband customer base, with 94,000 customers added over the last three months and a total pool of 1.55 million mobile broadband users. Does that also place it at risk of hitting a speed hump?
When I tested Telstra’s airport LTE 4G performance last week, I noted that Melbourne didn’t perform as well as Sydney but that Telstra had said equipment upgrades were in the offing. After testing the service again in the international departure area, speeds do look better than a week ago.
For me, the most exciting aspect of last week’s Telstra 4G announcements was the promise that it would work better in airports. Having given it a try in both Sydney and Melbourne, the network gets a qualified thumbs-up, but there are still some kinks to be ironed out, especially in Victoria.
At its launch, Telstra was pretty insistent that the USB dongle for its new 4G/LTE network was only available for contract purchasers. However, it turns out that if you identify yourself as a business customer, you can buy it outright for $299.
It was promised back in February and trials began in August, but Telstra’s 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network officially launches today, promising speeds up to three times faster than Telstra’s current network. But what equipment do you need to access it, does it cost more, where does it work and how well does it actually perform? We’ve got all the answers.
Telstra’s already selling LTE devices. Vodafone’s announced it’ll have LTE by the end of the year. Optus isn’t in that much of a hurry; it’s just announced that its first LTE products will go on sale in April 2012.
Telstra has been promising a data-centric 4G network since February, and switched on its first base stations in May. Consumers will finally get the chance to try that option this month, with 4G USB modems becoming available on August 29.
Telstra’s announcement this week that it will roll out a new long term evolution (LTE) mobile network has put LTE firmly back in the headlines. But just what is an LTE network, can it really be described as a 4G network, and why should you care?
Here at Lifehacker HQ, quite frankly we can never get enough high-speed mobile broadband. So the news from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that Telstra will be rolling out a 4G LTE network to complement its existing systems rings nicely in our ears.
