UP TO SPEED: GOLD FOR AUSSIE 4G

While DSL broadband speeds are much of a muchness between the US, the UK and Australia, when it comes to 4G wireless, we're way ahead down under.
The results of our ZDNet Broadband Speedtest show the extent to which Telstra has led the charge for 4G, and how Australia has embraced the technology. The average speed attained by Aussies running the test (downloading a 3MB file) on a 4G device was 11.1Mbps; 77 per cent faster than the average 4G speed in the US. Britain's performance managed three quarters of the Australian download speed — but with only 0.1 per cent of all UK tests made on a 4G device, they really should be disqualified from the category for not trying hard enough.

Over in the DSL arena, the results are very close indeed, but it's another Aussie gold. Australia's average speed of 6.8Mbps just pips the Americans, who were at 6.3Mbps, and the Brits, who averaged 6.2Mbps. The Aussies did have an advantage here, though, clocking 60 per cent of all the tests made across DSL, compared to just 45 per cent in the UK and only 30 per cent in the US.
Team Great Britain has to win gold for commitment to fibre. The average speed on fibre connections was close across all three countries (around the 21Mbps mark), but in the UK, 13 per cent of all tests were run across the technology (compared to 8 per cent in the US and only 2 per cent in Australia).
Britain's commitment to the latest technology improves its opportunity for future gold, but there's clearly a need for more focus; 17 per cent of people taking the test there didn't know what sort of connection they were on, which was 2.5 times worse than the Aussie rate.
Sadly, despite strengths in 4G, it wasn't enough to secure Australia anything other than third place in the overall rankings. The higher ratio of cable in the US (21 per cent) and Britain's stronger performance in 3G pushed Australia down in the overall speed ranking.

Telstra Launches First 4G Device

Australia's first 4G/LTE device to launch

08/08/2011

CEO, David Thodey, has announced around 2000 Telstra USB 4G mobile broadband modems would be made available to business and enterprise customers from 29 August ahead of the national launch of 4G services later this year.

We switched on our first 4G base stations, using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, in May.

"Telstra's 4G-enabled network is the next generation in mobile broadband and is set to offer Australians an even faster mobile connection," David said.

"The commercial pilot will give some of our customers a taste of the faster speeds, greater capacity and quicker response times that can be available for mobile services on 4G ahead of our national launch in major capital cities and selected regional centres later this year."

"Australian businesses already tell us they want fast, reliable mobile broadband with more than two million customers connecting to our network for internet on the go^[1]. Our investment in next-generation 4G mobile technology will help meet Australia’s growing demand for faster speeds and create additional capacity in our network."

Our first 4G product, the Telstra USB 4G, will use dual mode 4G/3G HSPA technology enabling it to operate across the 1800MHz and 850MHz spectrum bands, giving customers the benefits of 4G connectivity where it is available and switchover to high-speed  HSPA technology across the Telstra Mobile Network which reaches 99 per cent of the Australian population.

The Telstra USB 4G will be available initially to account managed business customers. It can be purchased in conjunction with a range of plans including for $0 upfront on the $49 Telstra Mobile Broadband Standard Plan over 24 months (minimum total cost $1,176) with 7GB included data. It will be available from 29 August through Telstra Business and Telstra Enterprise & Government account managers.

We are taking expressions of interest from customers who would like to be among the first to receive information about the national launch of Telstra's 4G service in Australia. Customers can visit telstra.com/4G.

* 4G/LTE coverage will be available initially within 5km from the GPO in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. Speeds vary due to factors such as distance from base station, local conditions, user numbers, hardware and software configuration.

^[1]Telstra had more than 2.3 million mobile broadband SIOs at the end of March 2011.