Hollywood's top talk show host Oprah Winfrey, her 300 audience from her Chicago studio, and her production crew will be using Telstra Next G network to keep in touch with their friends and families back home when they arrive in Australia this December. This is part of a new partnership with Telstra and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Telstra Next G network connections to power the Motorola Defy Smartphone for the viewers being flown to Australia for the show, while Telstra Mobile Broadband Ultimate USB modems for The Oprah Winfrey Show field producers. The network will also support during two live shows at the Sydney Opera House on 14 December.

Telstra Chief Marketing Officer Kate McKenzie said Telstra was an ideal partner for Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure given Telstra's Next network is the world's largest and fastest national 3G network, covering more than 2.1 million square kilometres and 99 per cent of the Australian population.

Telstra Next G is currently used for Telstra Mobile, which is Australia's largest mobile telephone service provider, and is also the fastest mobile network in the world, with network speeds of up to 21Mbit/s, as of 2008.

Oprah's trip to Australia is part of the country's tourism promotion with funding from the federal and NSW government. Partners and sponsors of "Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure" include Tourism Australia, Qantas Airways, Chevrolet, Motorola, American Express and Telstra. The "Oprah" show Australian television affiliate and partner is Network Ten.

It will also be the first Oprah Winfrey episode to be filmed outside the United States. The episode featuring Oprah's eight day trip to Australia will also mark the start of the show's 25th and final season.