Telstra Targets 60Pct 4G/LTE Coverage by Mid-2013
Blazing wireless internet connectivity will be enjoyed by more than 60 percent of Australians come mid-2013 courtesy of the country's leading telco Telstra Corporation.
The giant telco said on Tuesday that virtually all Aussie capital cities will have access to the high speed 4G/LTE broadband wireless connection as Telstra already mapped out the completion of such nationwide network within the first six months of 2013.
According to Technology Spectator, installation of 1000 4G/LTE base stations should be wrapped up by the second half of 2013, which would blanket key Australian cities with super-fast wireless access to the internet.
The fresh network upgrades were part of the $1.2 billion new investments that Telstra has exclusively set aside for improving the network speeds of its mobile services, Telstra chief executive David Thodey said earlier this month.
In a statement issued today, Telstra chief operations officer Brendon Riley said the "network expansion kicks off in Sydney today where we're introducing some of the world's fastest mobile internet speeds to customers."
The city itself will soon enjoy a 5-kilometre radius of wireless broadband access once Telstra's 4G/LTE infrastructures were completely put in place, which will also cover Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne.
The latter, according to Mr Riley, will have a 4G/LTE network coverage radius of at least 15 kilometres for Telstra subscribers by next year too.
Since Telstra activated its high-speed mobile network, half-a-million subscribers have signed up for the service, Mr Riley said, underscoring the increasing popularity of mobile devices, which come in the form of smartphones and tablet computers.
"Our view is that 4G will become the dominant technology over the next two years and we think that in that time anyone considering a new device will be looking for a 4G device," he was reported by The Australian as saying.
At present, 40 per cent of Australia can be theoretically reached by Telstra's wireless network and with the unabated growth of mobile devices the trend should set the stage for the company to double its mobile subscriber's base over the next 10 months.
"Our investment is geared towards sustaining our network reach and performance for all our existing and potential new customers - particularly anyone looking to trade up to a 4G device," Mr Riley was quoted by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) as saying.
Telstra has been ramping up its wireless network upgrades as the tech world braces for the onslaught of new gadgets that will be unleashed in the later months of 2012, most notable of which were Apple's iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, which according to All Things Digital will be released successively on September and October.
But the 4G/LTE network build-up also came in the heels of a recent report that showed growth in the tablet computer market was being marred by the considerable slow pick ups in units that were designed with cellular connectivity.
According to ABI Research, only 27 per cent of total tablets shipped as of the end of June 2012 were LTE-capable.