Telstra to commence LTE trials in May

Michael Rocca, acting Chief Operations Officer, has announced that LTE trials will help Telstra understand how the new technology can complement the Next G network - already Australia's largest and fastest national mobile broadband network.

"LTE is globally acknowledged as the dominant next-generation technology for mobile technology. It will be an important evolution for the Next G network in due course because it will give consumers access to higher speeds while giving Telstra the capacity to serve an increasing number of customers and support an even wider range of applications,"  Rocca said.

"We're already achieving speeds and capacity that are among the best in the world and there's plenty left in the tank, so while LTE will be an important evolution for the Next G network, it won't be a revolution because HSPA+ is already setting the benchmark for our customers' experience."

Telstra will spend the next three to six months testing the feasibility and technical capability of LTE for future commercialisation and will draw on three of the most prominent providers of the mobile technology industry for the tests, including its longstanding network partner, Ericsson. Joining the testing ranks will be Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks.

“We are pleased that Ericsson has been selected to participate in Telstra’s LTE trial. As the founder of mobile broadband globally, Ericsson has kept Telstra at the forefront of 3G network evolution with continual enhancements to the Next G network,” said Jacqueline Hey, CEO, Ericsson Australia/NZ.

“Earlier this year, Telstra and Ericsson upgraded Next G to become the world’s first HSPA+ Dual Carrier network, with peak network download speeds of 42 Mbps. LTE is the next stage in the evolution of 3G standards and technology and a natural extension of HSPA and Next G,” said  Hey.

“This is a great opportunity for Huawei to showcase its next-generation LTE solution in Australia,” said Huawei Australia CTO Peter Rossi. “Australians are some of the most data-hungry mobile users in the world, and in coming years LTE will be able to offer mobile data speeds comparable to the fixed-line broadband speeds available today.”