Telstra readies 21Mbps 3G+ in late 2008
updated 11:50 am EDT, Mon October 6, 2008
Telstra 21Mbps eHSPA Soon
Australian cell carrier Telstra this morning said it was on track to be one of the first providers in the world to use Enhanced HSPA, or eHSPA. Also known as HSPA+, the feature will give peak Internet download speeds of about 21Mbps per second, or about three times the best 7.2Mbps speed on regular HSPA devices. The move is made possible in part by having a new Ethernet-based network backbone and should supply 'true' mobile broadband across the island country.
The faster service should be available in at least some Australian areas before the end of 2008 but will primarily be used by notebook adapter cards and other computer add-ons until cellphones are produced that use the faster network. A second upgrade is also planned for 2009 that will double speeds to 42Mbps and reflect some of the performance of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, which should sit at 100Mbps or higher in ideal conditions.
