In addition to quadrupling the Next G data transfer rates, the company also announced plans to extend the effective range of Next G cells in regional centres from 50 kilometres to 200 kilometres.
Telstra says the improved geographic range of the Next G cells will ultimately provide network coverage to 98.8 per cent of the Australian population.
The company said the extended cell coverage made the Next G system the first in the world to switch on the 200 kilometre-range cells.
Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo said more than 400,000 subscribers had signed up to Next G since the third generation network went live last October.
Politically, the company needs its world-first 200 kilometre cell technology to succeed.
Telstra has already said it will switch off its ageing CDMA network – which is the only mobile system available to many rural and regional Australians – in January next year.
It has also promised its Next G network would provide the same or better coverage before the CDMA network is turned off. The Nationals in Canberra – NSW Senator Fiona Nash and Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce – intend on making sure Telstra keeps that promise.
Regardless of Telstra’s majority-private ownership, in an election year mobile coverage in the bush is an issue the Nationals are prepared to die in a ditch over.
Mr Trujillo used the weekend Next G upgrade announcement to talk up the coverage issue.
“This is a major leap from the 50 kilometre range that was typically supported on our Next G network, and is an important step towards equaling, and in some cases exceeding existing CDMA coverage,” Mr Trujillo said.
Briefing analysts in Sydney last week, Mr Trujillo said Telstra had topped one million 3G mobile subscribers, with a total of 415,000 Next G customers – and that the average revenue per user for these 3G users was $20 per month higher than 2G customers.
The improved multimedia capabilities of the Next G network was changing the way customers used their phones and further driving data traffic, Mr Trujillo said.
“Our Next G customers are using their devices differently to drive dramatic change in usage patterns, migrating from basic voice to content-rich applications,” he said.
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