Telstra hopes to be first mobile carrier to bring the next generation of wireless broadband technology to the market. To this end it has started deploying wireless broadband technology in capital cities.

Telstra plans to have the long term evolution technology operating by the end of the year. Telstra will only initially offer dongle services, transmitters that plug into a laptop or computer until the next generation of handsets and tablets are introduced into the Australian market.

This new technology is more efficient and offers faster speeds than the existing wireless broadband services. To ease demand on the current 3G network, Telstra will tune its new network to carry data at a different frequency.

There are more than a million mobile and wireless customers using Telstra and the increased network capacity of LTE will be vital in the future. Telstra will install the new equipment at 3 handpicked sites in Melbourne- East Melbourne, Crown Plaza and Bourke Street.

The network Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane are setting up for the final testing stages. By the end of 2011 the central business districts of all capital cities can use the LTE technology.

The new network will utilize the 850 to 1800 megahertz which had been used for 2G phones. The move from 2G to 3G has freed up this frequency for new emerging technology.

Optus and Vodafone have also announced that it would have LTE networks for their customers. Vodafone has promised that their 2G and 3G bases stations can be switched to LTE.

Telstra has partnered with Sierra wireless to provide their customers with the wireless dongles. The dongles will work on both 850 and 1800 megahertz.