Telstra launches world’s fastest mobile broadband service
Telstra has heralded in a new era in real-time mobile communications, announcing the world’s fastest mobile broadband service—The Turbo 21 modem—today in Sydney.
Following the theme of world’s fastest, a number of Olympic athletes were present at the Telstra Experience Centre, including Grant Hackett, Libby Tricket and Eamon Sullivan.
The Telstra Turbo 21 modem operates at three times the speed of devices currently in the market, at 21 Mbps, breaking the Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest national mobile broadband network.
A collaboration between Telstra, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless, the new modem will bring a true real-time broadband experience to customers, providing significant benefits in health care, education and business productivity, in addition to an enhanced consumer entertainment experience.
The super fast speeds will enable customers to download an MP3 song in just four seconds or a YouTube video in just six. Doctors will similarly be able to download a high-quality x-ray image in about 15 seconds.
Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo, who made the announcement overnight at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, believes the new 21 Mbps modem will be a great help for businesses in lifting productivity levels.
The Australian representative of the Guinness World Records, Chris Sheedy today declared Telstra’s achievement as “phenomenal and a real win for everyday Australians and Australian businesses.”
According to a recent report conducted by Concept Economics, the Next G™ Productivity Impacts Study, high-speed broadband is cutting costs for businesses by reducing the need for travel, saving time and generating new business.
Other benefits to small business include:
- Access to high-quality web conferencing in real time as well as high-definition live video streaming from multiple locations.
- Offers employees secure and seamless log-in to their office’s virtual private network from home or while travelling as the super-fast speeds enable quick access to shared folders, secured email accounts and business applications.
- Ability to download large data files in seconds, meaning architects, builders or landscape gardeners can download high resolution blueprints, plans or presentations onsite in real time.
Consumers will also benefit, according to Telstra Consumer Executive Director Jenny Young, as they will be the “first in the world to experience true-real time mobile broadband… the new Turbo 21 modem gives customers access to news, movies, music and sport in real-time.”
The Turbo 21 modems will be available to some business customers on Telstra’s supercharged HSPA+ network, The Next G™ network from 23 February, with consumer and full business availability in the coming months.
For more information, or to register your interest in being one of the first to purchase the new Turbo 21 modem, go to www.bigpond.com/21mbps-expression-of-interest
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I think it’s great to see Australia, which sometimes suffers from an unfair reputation of being behind the times, leading the WORLD in the mobile broadband arena!
Well, two years have passed since I bought this device, but I must say, Telstra never delivered what you touted in your article. The best speeds I can get now on that particular device are a paltry 0.5Mbps (download), with uploads better, sometimes going up to 2.5 Mbps. That’s what Speedtest.net tells me. I spent $500 two years ago getting this device – at that time, it worked very well in my office which happened to be on level 57 of the MLC Centre in Sydney, just above the transmitters. At the moment, I’m stuck with a $69 casual usage plan…interestingly, due to the slow speeds, I never get near my quota. Fortunately, I’ve got a MacBook Pro, so I can use Airport to use some of my neighbours’ bandwidth, via their wireless networks linked to either DSL or Cable (in each case Optus).
I wonder whether Telstra management have deceived us (and I am a shareholder, albeit one of the minuscule ones rather than the big, fat, capitalist investors who supposedly represent superannuation funds and the like), and ensure that the SMT (and I know a few there) get nice bonuses. Interestingly, I noticed on an old Windows notebook that the NETWORK speed is 21.6 mbps, which suggests to me that maybe Telstra are actually throttling the speeds…maybe to encourage users to get the new “Ultimate” modem. Note that Telstra is now promoting this device at speeds up to 21 Mbps, capable of 40 Mbps. Forget the HSPA+ network – my device only shows HSPA.
Given these issues, I’m solidly behind the NBN and would certainly prefer to see Australia’s citizens benefit from monopolistic profits, rather than managers and institutional investors (particularly those headquartered offshore or operating under “private” equity).
In the meantime, I’ll use the Wi-Fi networks in the universities, or sit outside the Telstra shops (not hard to get their passwords)!