Telstra turns on LTE equipment

Australian operator Telstra Corp. turned on LTE services in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane, using network equipment from L.M. Ericsson and Sierra Wireless. However, the service is not yet commercially available.
Telstra in February said it planned to upgrade its network with LTE technologies in the central business districts of all capital cities and selected regional centers by the end of this year. “The integration of 4G technology into our existing wireless network demonstrates Telstra’s intention to continue to deliver high quality services and meet ever-growing customer demand,” said Mike Wright, executive director Telstra Networks & Access Technologies. “With more than a million mobile and wireless broadband customers joining Telstra in the past 12 months, and data usage on the Next G network doubling every year, the increased network capacity LTE will provide is vital,” he added. A total of 80% of Telstra’s 2G customers have upgraded to 3G services on its Next G network. Telstra plans to sell dual-mode LTE/HSPA+ devices from Sierra Wireless that will operate on both the 850 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands.
“This is an exciting development that demonstrates Telstra and Ericsson are on track to deliver Australia a 4G network by the end of 2011,” said Sam Saba, Ericsson CEO Australia and New Zealand.