The next generation of wireless mobile phone and data technology has arrived. Better than 3G, it’s called 3.5G (or NextG as Telstra calls it), and it means more coverage and more speed in more places than ever before across Australia. Given that Telstra says it will change our lives, the question is, will it?
One thing is for sure – given the network’s ability to deliver data at speeds of 550kbps to 1.5mbps when in NextG coverage areas, which are 100 times larger than existing 3G networks, this means more people can access high speed wireless broadband than ever before with little more than their mobile phones or preferably a PCMCIA wireless broadband modem card that plugs into the side of most modern laptop computers.
Network upgrades, coupled with future mobile phones and wireless broadband PCMCIA cards will mean network speeds are boosted up to 14.4mbps in the future, slated to be sometime next year. This, however, is a theoretical maximum, even if you get a new phone when the 14.4mbps network is available, if everyone else in the same area is also trying to get online, that bandwidth will be shared. However it will be a much larger pool of bandwidth than is available at the moment, which is currently set to a theoretical maximum of 3.6mbps (with delivery of 550kbps to 1.5mbps common).
At the moment, Telstra has the fastest and biggest 3.5G network in the country, although competitors are busily working away on upgrading their own networks to 3.5G speeds, matching Telstra’s offering, if not Telstra’s wide coverage to an expected 98% of Australians.
Having access to such speeds also greatly improves the delivery of mobile TV services when accessed as streaming media from a mobile phone. At the launch of Telstra’s NextG network, I was able to see the range of Telstra’s new phones specifically designed for their NextG network, and took a quick peek at one of the 12 Foxtel TV channels now available to stream directly to your phone. All 12 can apparently be purchased for $12 each month, effectively making your phone a real TV, and with the speed boost of data over NextG, the picture quality is much better and clearer than seen with existing 3G TV services from 3, Optus, Vodafone and Telstra itself.
One interesting thing to note about the new network is that it operates in the 850Mhz frequency, as opposed to the 2100Mhz frequency used by the other 3G phone companies. 850Mhz is better able to penetrate into lifts and basement carparks, as well as travelling over greater distances than 2100Mhz equipment, making it a good replacement for the CDMA network still installed in the bush.
Telstra has said in the past that it will upgrade existing CDMA phone users and wireless broadband PCMCIA users at Telstra’s cost when the CDMA network is turned off in 2008.
Given that the network runs on the 850Mhz network, as opposed to the 2100Mhz network, this means that new mobile phones must be specifically designed to work with the 850Mhz frequency. Existing 2100Mhz 3G phones won’t work, although Telstra does have an existing 2100Mhz 3G network that it shares with Hutchison’s ‘Three’ which will continue operating.
In the 850Mhz space, Telstra has phones available from Samsung, LG, iMate, Motorola (coming soon) and a Chinese company called ZTE. All look like sleek, modern phones, with something for everyone, although Nokia and Sony Ericsson are notable by their absence for the time being.
An 850Mhz NextG phone will be able to roam in big swathes of the US and Canada, with 850Mhz networks also appearing in Asia, and as these phones can also roam to 2.5G GSM services, you will be able to make voice calls from almost anywhere in the world. However competitors have already started talking about how their 2100Mhz 3G phones (and upcoming 3.5G 2100Mhz phones will be able to offer 3G roaming in many more countries of the world, letting you make video calls overseas if you choose (in addition to regular voice calls), and also access wireless broadband at 3G and 3.5G speeds in many more countries that also have 3G/3.5G 2100Mhz networks.
Given that Telstra’s wireless broadband PCMCIA card operates on seven different bands, including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G and both 2100Mhz and 850Mhz 3.5G, wireless broadband customers will still be able to receive high speed wireless broadband while travelling internationally, so while this is an issue, it’s nowhere near the big issue that competitors are claiming it is.
Telstra are offering a range of capped phone plans for NextG customers, and while they do offer a lot of calls for the money, a quick glance at Hutchison’s ‘Three’ plans show that they still offer better value for money at this stage, with the plans tweaked only in the last week to ensure they were better. Optus has already begun a multi-million dollar advertising campaign to encourage customers to switch to the Optus 3G network, while Vodafone has already switched on selected 3.5G towers allowing Sydneysiders access to similar data speeds to NextG.
Telstra also have a range of wireless broadband plans, starting from $29.95 per month for 10 hours, however the 1G plan is $109.95 per month, and a 3G download plan is $199.95 per month.
All-in-all, it’s wonderful to see faster wireless speeds over ever greater areas across Australia. Let’s hope Telstra can roll out the 14.4mbps services quickly, and let’s hope that pricing continues to be pressured by the competitive landscape changing with all phone companies soon to offer 3.5G services too.
Will Telstra’s greater coverage be enough to sway users? It could be. Will having faster speeds, more content and supposedly less dropouts change your life? Well… if it all works as advertised, and let’s face it, a week since the launch has not passed us by yet as I type, but if it does all work as advertised, and you have one of these mobiles and/or data cards, you will definitely notice and enjoy substantially better mobile coverage and performance, and that’s definitely a good thing. However until we actually get a phone and a data card, and test it out for ourselves, we’re going to reserve final judgement for a future article!
I live in the country, and this will be great for me, as I cannot get braodband otherwise, but the prices are waaaay out of reach of the people who will find the service most useful!
I live, and work, in a Country area. My CDMA phone can lose signal about 25 kms from
Ballarat, a large regional centre – and the previous digital phone was much worse.
Will 3G do better? – with it’s minimum $49 plan!
My current Aussie owned service has no term contract, $5 p.m. plus 30c per 30 secs (timed
per sec!), SMS 24c.
I wont consider Telstra’s 3G if this is their deal!
PS; I don’t want or need Broadband when Mobile, but I do on my fixed line.
I agree with the comments of Arthur Trevaski, although I live in the outer suburbs of Sydney. I see no benefit of changing to Telstra 3g. My current mobile service has no contract with no minimum spend and I only pay for the calls I make – 15 cents per 30 seconds plus 25 cent connection fee. SMS is 25 cents each, however in 14 years of mobile ownership I have sent less than 50 SMS as I prefer to make a phonecall.
well we tryed the next G we ive in the country 100k out of Brisbane an they gave us the Zit phones we can be sitting in the same room or the next town and ring each other 6 times and the message is that the phone is turned off ( the phone is on) put on 7th try the phone may ring
I have taken the next G and an pre payed optice phone for a drive the optice has better coverage then the next G we have had 4 of these phones in 2 weeks so far 2 have died I call that reilable i am just waitting for the last 2 to die next week some time
The best phon coverage we ever had was analog
and why do they make phones now days that you can not see the screen in sunlight
my dads company is with telstra and they are offering me a handset of my choice, however the one i want is NExt G and i am with optus and want to stay with optus. can i still have the handset through telstra and then just switch?
Telstra people need to make some nice looking Next G phones!! they are all ugly.