3 Mobile customers will enjoy expanded access to 3G network services, provided they own a compatible handset.
3 coverage in Brisbane: 3G roaming zone in lilac.
Click to enlarge
(Credit: 3 Mobile)
The company announced today the fruition of its expanded agreement with Telstra to give customers access to 3G roaming on Telstra's Next G network. This new agreement sees 3's 3G network covering 96 per cent of Australia, inclusive of roaming areas, increasing its coverage of Australia by 40 per cent and reaching more rural locations.
Customers looking to take advantage of the new 3G roaming zone will need a handset compatible with both the 2100MHz frequency used by 3 and the 850MHz frequency used by Telstra's Next G network. Only a selection of handsets sold by 3 feature compatibility for both frequencies, including Nokia's E71 and the BlackBerry Bold.
Prices for data in roaming zones has dropped to 50¢/MB for customers who choose a post-paid X-Series data pack. This price is significantly cheaper than the AU$2/MB charged when on a pay-as-you-go data plan; however, the 50¢/MB charge is on top of the monthly cost of an X-Series plan.
A coverage map displaying 3 Mobile's existing Broadband zone and the new 3G Roaming zone is available from the company's website.
WRONG
3, even via Telstra, does not cover 96% of Australia - only about 20% if that.
Telstra calims it reaches about 98% of the Australian population, and that is concentrated substantially along the east coast.
If a lie is repeated often enough, eventually it will be perceived as true by the general public.
The world-wide misconception about the change of the millenium in 2000 is testament to that.
Get your facts right, Joseph, and please don't believe all you read in press releases. Large Telcos have been known to lie!