Telstra suffered a taste of Optus' woes last week as an upgrade for its Next G mobile network went awry, cutting customers' speeds back.
Today Optus announced plans to expand its 3G network coverage next year to 98 percent of Australia and will bring mobile speeds up to 42Mbps by 2010, in a direct challenge to rival Telstra.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan has hit back at Telstra, accusing the telco of sour grapes, after it announced it had filed suit against her over its failed bid for some AU$1 billion of WiMax funding.
The national competition regulator today said there was currently no need to force Telstra to provide wholesale access to its new ADSL and third-generation (3G) mobile networks.
Telstra's new national Next G wireless network is one of the most exciting developments in the Australian telecommunications scene this year. But it's just a sideshow.
Optus, Vodafone and Three have long struggled to match Telstra's reach outside the capital cities. Vodafone's major network upgrade is the best chance yet to dilute Next G's rural monopoly, but questions remain.
Telstra's 21Mbps Next-G boost and Internode's new 100Mbps FttH networks may be both companies' show ponies, but when it comes to helping most of us, their need-for-speed posturing is just a box-and-dice distraction that we've all seen before.
A while back, frustration with my inability to get online outside of the office drove me to invest in a 3G data service from Hutchinson's 3. For $30 per month, I get 2GB of data that's accessible pretty much anywhere I go (I do all my work in metropolitan areas).
Many Australians are drooling at the prospect of 100Mbps broadband, but Trujillo seems to have a bigger endgame in mind. As Telstra poaches customers from the PSTN and NBN, he'll leave more poison pills than we've seen since Phar Lap.
Last week, a family friend rang for some technical help. "Telstra sold me this wireless Internet service and they promised it would work both at my home and at my office," he said. Said home is in the Melbourne CBD, and said office is in Kyneton, a lovely town about an hour away from Melbourne.
Is it finally time to ditch Optus' buggy network and go back to the dark side? Is it time to take my iPhone to Telstra's Next G and hang my head in shame?
Telstra will introduce Australia's first Windows Mobile-based Palm Treo 750 smartphone on February 26, with the added bonus of compatibility with its high-speed Next G mobile network.
Fancy a 1.3Mbps broadband pipeline direct to your notebook, without a cable in sight? The new BigPond wireless data card makes good on Telstra's lofty promises for its Next G network.
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