Why you’re going to love Telstra’s new 4G superhighway
When young Australians watch video they reach for the screen in their pocket ahead of the TV remote. That fact alone is driving an insatiable demand for fast mobile connectivity across the country.
And it’s not just video that’s demanding snappy performance from our mobile infrastructure. Apps and sophisticated photo editing software on smartphones are turning them into a nation of ‘sharers’. Our ever-present smartphone camera is inspiring them to Instagram meals, share random events on Snapchat and post domestic animal encounters like never before.
Add to this our growing appetite for sports broadcasts, our love of streaming music services, burgeoning mobile commerce and the digitalisation of health and it means tomorrow’s mobile networks will need to be faster, smarter and capable of supporting more people and content.
Built for a nation of sharers and streamers
That’s why Telstra have announced that they are throwing the switch on a new mobile superhighway at trial sites in Perth, Mildura, Griffith and Mt Isa.
The new multi-lane highway is built on the coveted 700MHz spectrum that once carried analogue TV signals. Now the spectrum will carry bits and bytes and masses of data across Australia at the speed of light.
The spectrum is uniquely suited to supporting fast mobile data services.
First it’s a lower spectrum band — which means it offers superior in-building reception and broader coverage.
Second, Telstra has invested $1.3bn to secure more lanes on the superhighway than any other provider. For the technically minded Telstra have secured 40MHz of spectrum allowing them to run services over 20MHz of contiguous spectrum for download traffic and a separate 20MHz of contiguous spectrum for upload traffic across every state and territory in Australia. That will provide you with tremendous 4G capacity.
Customers in the commercial trial areas need not wait to taste the future either. Some of Telstra’s most popular smartphones are 700MHz-ready. That includes the Samsung GALAXY S5 and the HTC One M8. (See our review of these two devices) There are some exciting new 700MHz-compatible models coming soon.
On top of 700MHz Telstra are adding a neat party trick called 4G Advanced (also called LTE-Advanced). 4G Advanced combines together spectrum bands (in this case 1800MHz and 700MHz) to carry more data for customers at ultra-fast speeds.
Telstra already have a 4G Advanced device capable of taking advantage of this frequency combination (The Telstra Advanced Pro X – to be reviewed in our next post) and Telstra expect to introduce at least a second device by year’s end.
Together 700MHz and 4G Advanced will form a super network that will support our love affair with all things mobile well beyond this decade and the next. Perfect for a nation of sharers and streamers.
7 reasons you’re going to love Telstra 700
- More to share – with more spectrum supporting 4G services you can use even more devices and do more of the things you love at the same time.
- Better in the bush – the 700MHz spectrum can go further than existing 4G frequencies creating better 4G coverage in rural and regional areas.
- More for metro – 700MHz will boost in-building coverage for 4G services bringing speedy web access to more car parks, bedrooms and lifts.
- Available on some of the best devices – Some of this year’s most popular smartphones are 700MHz-ready including Samsung GALAXY S5 and HTC One (M8) and the upcoming LG G3 smartphone.
- More streaming, less buffering – Expect less buffering when streaming video on the go.
- Do more things at the same time – post a selfie on Instagram while loading eMail and streaming music.
- Don’t let the crowd slow you down – enjoy your favourite content with fewer slowdowns even in crowded places like shops or on the bus.