[LINK] Telstra wireless upgrade

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Telstra doubles the speed of its Next G HSPA+ network 

Mitchell Bingemann From: The Australian February 16, 2010 12:00AM
<http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/telstra-doubles-the-speed-
of-its-next-g-hspa-network/story-e6frgakx-1225830673282>


TELSTRA has doubled the speed of its Next G HSPA+ network to allow 
theoretical maximum download speeds of 42 megabits per second and says 
speeds of up to 82Mbps are now only a year away. 

The download speed increase, from 21Mbps to 42Mbps, has been made 
possible by a software upgrade to Telstra's Next G network using dual 
carrier technology.

The next promised speed increase to 82Mbps puts the wireless network's 
theoretical speed close to the government's vow of 100Mbps on the 
national broadband network.

"Dual carrier is a technique where you combine two conventional HSPA+ 
channels simultaneously to double the peak speed on a data modem," 
Telstra executive director of wireless, Mike Wright said.

However, although the network is capable of peak speeds of 42Mbps, real-
life speeds are likely to only hit a quarter of the peak rate. 

"Today we tell our customers to expect between 550kbps and 8Mbps in the 
real world, but with this dual carrier technology we can now double 
that," Mr Wright said.

The upgrade of Telstra's network to HSPA+ Dual Carrier was achieved with 
network partner Ericsson, with Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless joining the 
team to deliver a HSPA+ Dual Carrier chipset and device.

The upgrade will only be available to users of mobile data cards when the 
telco commercialises the offering later this year. 

Telstra is expecting 42Mbps-compatible PDAs and handsets to be available 
in the coming year.

The upgrade comes at a time when Telstra's wireless broadband business is 
booming. In the six months to December 31, Telstra signed up 279,000 
customers to wireless broadband plans, taking its total subscriber count 
to more than 1.3 million, a growth of 73 per cent from the same time last 
year.

Telstra chief executive David Thodey said the Next G upgrade would allow 
the telco to provide a better customer experience in areas of high demand.

Telstra is now planning on doubling the download speed again in a bid to 
delay the more expensive rollout path undertaken with LTE and to maximise 
the profits from its expansive Next G HSPA network.

"While LTE remains on Telstra's technology roadmap, there is a huge 
amount of potential remaining in HSPA+. We will take full advantage of 
this by again doubling our peak network speeds to 84Mbps through the 
implementation of HSPA+ Dual Carrier plus MIMO technology during 2011," 
Mr Thodey said.

Australians are increasingly turning to mobile wireless as networks 
expand and prices drop.

Telco analyst Telsyte said there were 2.9 million mobile wireless 
connections in Australia, but it predicted wireless would leap to 5.9 
million connections by 2014.

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Cheers,
Stephen