Telstra Mobile Broadband growth fuels 3G data services
March 30, 2005
Telstra Mobile Broadband data plans are proving a big hit in the 3G business market with the customer base growing at nearly 50 per cent month-on-month since launch in November 2004.
In a speech to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce today, Telstra's Group Managing Director of Technology Innovation and Products, Mr Ted Pretty, said the response to Telstra Mobile Broadband had exceeded expectations.
"Telstra is delighted with the market's response to its mobile broadband offer as it clearly indicates there is a strong demand for premium wireless data services," Mr Pretty said.
"The Telstra Mobile Broadband plans have been very well received by the market and we are ahead of forecast.
"Importantly, Telstra Mobile Broadband data traffic has also continued to climb, growing 51 per cent month-on-month, since we launched the service."
Mr Pretty said demand had been particularly strong among companies with large sales teams who needed to access information while they were on the road. It was also proving to be popular with professionals wanting to access corporate networks and field workers accessing online job details for repair and maintenance work.
Heinz and Partner lawyer, Mr Andrew Douglas, said his company had adopted Telstra Mobile Broadband to assist staff that spend a lot of time visiting clients and travelling between offices in Sydney, Melbourne and regional Victoria.
"Telstra Mobile Broadband has been fantastic for me. It has been an enormous help in some critical times," Mr Douglas said.
"Often the advice you are giving is very much on the run because a situation is happening before you. To be able to get into case law and access documents whenever I am in a coverage area has been a huge boon for me," Mr Douglas said.
Telstra Mobile Broadband is a 3G data technology that operates on Telstra's CDMA 1x EV-DO network. It offers customers access to the internet, or remote access to a company's network, using compatible mobile devices such as laptops and PDAs.
With data rates bursting up to 2.4 megabit per second and typical speeds between 300 -600 kilobits per second when in a CDMA 1xEV-DO coverage area, Telstra Mobile Broadband plans offer connections up to 10 times faster than dial up modems.
Mobile broadband coverage via CDMA 1xEV-DO is currently available through more than 400 CDMA base stations around the country, providing service to almost three million people. By June this year, another 300 CDMA base stations are expected to provide the technology, giving 5.3 million people living in selected metropolitan areas and regional centres access to mobile broadband coverage.
Mr Pretty said Telstra Mobile Broadband plans give customers seamless roaming from the CDMA 1xEV-DO network to the CDMA 1X mobile data network, which offers data speeds bursting up to 153kbps.
"Together, these networks cover 98 percent of the Australian population and over 1.6 million square kilometres," Mr Pretty said.
Customers with a WiFi enabled device can also use their Telstra Mobile Broadband service in more than 450 Telstra Wireless (WiFi) Hotspots.
"We are sending a strong signal to the market that Telstra is at the forefront of the 3G evolution in Australia," Mr Pretty said.
"Telstra is already meeting the needs of business customers through its 3G technology and later this year we will introduce rich, 3G multimedia content over our 3GSM network for the benefit of our 3G mobile phone customers.
"The success of our mobile broadband service is a good indicator that our consumer based 3GSM voice and content mobile phone offer will be well received by the market."
Telstra has announced it will complete its 3GSM network and platform readiness work in July 2005. Telstra will offer extensive metropolitan coverage in Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth with customers able to seamlessly roam most services onto Telstra's 2GSM network.
Preparations for the launch of Telstra's 3GSM service are well under way with 3GSM base stations being progressively installed in Canberra. By July, Telstra will have more than 40 3GSM base stations operating in Canberra to complement the 2069 base stations Telstra has access to in the other five capital cities.
Telstra commenced testing in Sydney during March to ensure full service operation between the Telstra and Hutchison 3G networks.
Once launched, Telstra's 3GSM service will offer customers video calling, video message bank and advanced audio-visual content services on 3G mobile phone handsets.
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