Telstra 4G LTE roundup and analysis

Telstra launched its new 4G LTE mobile network earlier this week. While it is fast, it’s not a national network quite yet, covering only capital city CBDs and 30+ regional and metropolitan centres.

At this point, access is available through a dualmode 3G/4G USB dongle, with several compatible mobile phones to come.

Telstra says the network offers download speeds of up to 40 Mbps, and upload speeds maxing out at 10 Mbps. With an increase of bandwidth over some other existing mobile networks, applications relying on transmitting large chunks of data in a short period of time - for example, video streaming or the transfer of large files - should improve while using the LTE network, given a good connection to the network.

Latency on the network, Telstra says, is around half that of existing 3G networks, so applications responsive to jitter - VoIP, videoconferencing and such - should also function better on the network.

Interestingly, Telstra is not selling access to the network as a standalone service, instead offering it on top of its existing 3G plans. The USB dongle (and presumably any phones that use the network - see ‘The phone’, below) has dual 3G/4G connectivity. Customers will simply connect to the internet, and if 4G coverage is available, the device will choose that over the 3G connection. Otherwise, it will fall back to 3G.

In order to recoup the costs of the network, the telco has adjusted prices to its existing plans.

“[Telstra has] made a $10 a month adjustment to price, but only for its top plan, keeping the price impact small [for consumers],” explains David Kennedy, Research Director at analyst firm Ovum.

With users of the dongle automatically being transitioned onto the 4G network where appropriate, existing burdens on Telstra’s 3G network should be alleviated somewhat.

“There is anecdotal evidence that Telstra’s 3G network was filling up in certain locations, and the LTE launch has been focused in areas of high data usage. We therefore expect that LTE capacity will start being used as soon as the dualmode 3G/LTE dongles start being used,” Kennedy told Voice+Data.

“That being said, growth in data traffic will gradually fill the capacity Telstra has launched. There are plans to auction more spectrum in the 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands, but this won’t be available for use until 2014. That is why Telstra has re-purposed some 1800 MHz spectrum for this launch,” he says.

Kennedy says the launch reflects Telstra’s desire to entrench its image as the carrier with the fastest and biggest mobile network.

“Optus and Vodafone have already said they’ll be launching LTE at 1800 MHz in the next few months, just like Telstra. Vodafone will launch by year’s end, and Optus will launch in April 2012. Telstra has gone early precisely because it wants to maintain its branding as the technology leader,” he says.

The phone

Following the launch of the LTE network, Telstra also revealed that mobile phone manufacturer HTC would be the first to launch a phone in Australia compatible with the network. Little is known about the phone, codenamed HTC 4G, except that it will feature a 4.5″ screen, run Android and have a dual-core processor and an 8 megapixel camera.

Whether or not this will be an existing HTC phone rebranded is unknown - HTC currently offers a variety of 4G phones in other parts of the globe, and the HTC 4G may end up being one of these, with a Telstra logo emblazed on the back.

The one existing photo of the phone suggests it will run a modified version of HTC Sense UI, as previous HTC Android phones sold by Telstra have done.

While HTC may have the first phone available on the network, and therefore gain the impression of primacy, Telstra is likely to tap other manufacturers later down the line - but it won’t be for some time.

“Every significant handset manufacturer has dualmode 3G/LTE phones in the market, and they are already being used in Japan, the US, and Europe,” says Kennedy.

“We expect to see Telstra make a couple of handsets available in the next couple of months, but a really wide range won’t be available before the middle of next year,” he says.

Pricing

The combined 4G/3G USG dongle is available in a variety of consumer and business plans.

The cheapest non-bundle consumer rebate plan offers 1 GB of data per month and comes in at $39.95 a month. The cheapest business plan also offers 1 GB of data per month but comes in at $29 a month.

Both plans offer the dongle free, provided you sign up with a 24-month contract commitment.

The telco has yet to announce when or how much any dedicated mobile phone plans running on the LTE network will cost. 

Locations

The LTE network’s geographical coverage is limited but growing. The network currently covers 5 km surrounding the GPO of all of Australia’s capital cities. It’s also available within 3 km of 31 additional regional and metro areas.

Access is also available at some capital city airports.

A detailed map of these areas is available at Telstra’s website.

Telstra says it will launch 4G services in more than 50 additional locations by the end of 2011.