Telstra boosts Next G to 21Mbps

in brief Telstra on Friday activated the HSPA technology needed to boost its Next G network to 21Mbps and made the first data call using the new speeds.

"HSPA Evolution is live and working for the first time anywhere in the world in a commercial network on the Telstra Next G network in Australia," Michael Rocca, group managing director, Telstra networks and services said in a statement. Rocca made the first call at 4pm on the souped up network.

Trials on the 21Mbps service begin this month with a full commercial launch to be held early next year. At its investor day last month, Telstra also demonstrated the first device capable of harnessing the full 21Mbps.

Next year may see maximum speeds increase again with the company having previously voiced plans to step the speeds to 42Mbps.

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Quick Talking Anonymous -- 08/12/08

I'm impressed. Anyone who can make a "call" that requires 21 Mbps must have a lot to say.

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RE: Quick Talking Anonymous -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320118283)

You knob, it means Telstra are going to destroy competition on the mobile broadband data speed front.

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Quick Talking Anonymous -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320118296)

You knob, the correct grammar is 'Telstra is....'

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telstra are cphi -- 17/01/09 (in reply to #320118305)

actually there's no right answer - in British English, 'Telstra are' would be more common, in American English, 'Telstra is'

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Hey Knobby Rex Alfie Lee -- 11/12/08 (in reply to #320118296)

I wonder how much of Oz will actually get 21Mb/sec & once it's split up between the various users I wonder how quick it will actually be. I also wonder that if Telstra can actually deliver 21Mb/sec to 90% of Australians I wonder how much we'll still be paying per megabyte. I'm sure the speed is as they say bcoz Telstra always tells the truth & the charge per megabyte will definitely become a non-issue for all Australians bcoz Telstra have always delivered good service, haven't they.

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Next G 21 Mbps Anonymous -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320118283)

must be a BOPTUS fanboi...envious of a world class network.....

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@Next G 21 Mbps Anonymous -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320118298)

Yes I'm sure Optus is very envious... considering they're signing up more mobile broadband customers than Telstra at the moment, despite having a smaller footprint (latest 1/4 financial results)

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@Anonymous @NextG 21 Anon A Mouse -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320118319)

Shame they can't suport those same cusotmers, as they have oversubscribed the service. And current rankings rate the OPTUS/VIRGIN wireless product the slowest. Even OPTUS are pulling products that they can not support due to the same over-subscribing

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NextG kicked the bucket too Mel Sommersberg -- 10/12/08 (in reply to #320118324)

What's Telstra's excuse?

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98% coverage? bluey -- 08/12/08

I'll stick to Australia Post as they have 100% coverage that is really 100% coverage.

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98 % Coverage ???? Anonymous -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320118285)

I geuss inner- Sydney / Surry Hills is in the 2% that don't get any signal let alone 21Mbs.

I just wish I could make any call .....

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Lack of service in Sydney Rex Alfie Lee -- 11/12/08 (in reply to #320118301)

My friend lives in Randwick & on the wonderful Telstra network (he's since moved to Optus) you can actually watch the names of the 3G delivery change up to 7 times per minute & continuously throughout a call. The calls were a waste of time but the teletext was interesting, for the first call.

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comparing apples with apples.. Anonymous -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320118285)

Australia Post don't deliver to your door if you live outside of the town, ie not on the main road.... just wait till they privatise that.. 55 cent stamps, will be twice as much.

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Oz Post don't deliver to the door Rex Alfie Lee -- 11/12/08 (in reply to #320118309)

Depends where you live mate. My sister lives on a station in the top-end of SA & they have there's delivered by hand, straight of a semi.

Perhaps they just don't like YOU!!!

Cruel, I know but really funny.

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21Mbps at what cost ? Jason Cartwright -- 08/12/08

Whilst the achievement and no doubt surrounding PR that occurs from Telstra rolling out 21Mbps mobile speeds is impressive, what's lacking is anything resembling a realistic data limit on their plans.

Typically a rediculous 200Mb which at 21Mbps won't be reach in a month, but rather minutes.

The second issue is price. Consumers and businesses alike are looking for good value for money and whilst the speed will attrack a few with specific use cases, the cost will have the majority of prospective customers running for the hills.

Telstra you have the speed and distribution of your network down, please consider some kind of realistic pricing and data plans.

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Actually in 10 seconds according to Telstra Rex Alfie Lee -- 11/12/08 (in reply to #320118327)

10 seconds of download at 21Mb/s = 210Mb, 56K for the rest of the month or a very high bill from the big T-for.

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200MB... Anonymous -- 05/01/09 (in reply to #320118714)

200MB*8=1600Mb

So 1600/20=80 Seconds, not 10 seconds.

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Real Business to Business Anonymous -- 09/12/08

Telstra seems to be running the only real B2B wireless network as everybody else has slow upload speeds that makes emails with attachments a pain to wait for.

We would rather pay to have a real network than oversubscribed, underpowered ones. Having been with 3 and their PITA tech support (they cannot do ANY change to XSeries without requiring follow calls to get them to fix it), Optus and their data-hostile attitude, we decided that cheap is NOT enough. A network fast enough to actually view/hear multimedia without hiccups is great. We may pay twice as much for our 10GB per month, but the speed is worth it.

Wireless is our only internet connection because wired takes too long to get connected and cannot reach the high speeds more than a km from the exchange anyway.

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Pigs Fly Anonymous -- 09/12/08

I'm currently getting 481kbps on NextG, that's about 1/40th of 21Mbps.

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sigh Anonymous -- 10/12/08 (in reply to #320118400)

"Peak Network Speeds" not expected everyday speeds.. moron.

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@sigh RL -- 10/12/08 (in reply to #320118494)

Telstra claims that you can achieve speeds between 550kbps all the way to 3Mbps (This might change when 21Mbps devices become available). IMO most users should expect 1.5Mbps on average. If you can only achieve speeds of around 481kbps like Anonymous above claims, then you're obviously not getting your value for money.

No one should be paying $89.95 a month for anything less than 1Mbps.

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Higher data limits would be nice. Anonymous -- 10/12/08

They are concentrating on speed but doing little to increase data limits to something more usable amounts. The current 10Gb plans are just manageable when it's your only high speed option for areas Telstra has not bothered to update it's ADSL network.

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