Telstra switches on LTE

Australia's Telstra has switched on the first LTE base stations on its wireless network.

 

The operator said it had activated 4G base stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

 

The operator plans to upgrade its Next G network to LTE in the CBDs of all capital cities and certain regional centres by the end of the year. The company will then launch dual-mode LTE/HSPA+ devices.

 

Telstra, which is refarming 1800MHz spectrum for LTE, today revealed that 80% of its mobile customer base has now migrated to 3G, freeing up frequencies for this use..

 

Ericsson is conducting the LTE rollout, after winning out against Huawei and NSN. Sierra Wireless will supply the devices.

 

Telstra rivals Optus and VHA have also successfully trialled LTE, and Wimax operator vividwireless has tested TD-LTE with an eye to commencing the rollout of a TD-LTE network by the end of the year.