Telco giants Optus and Telstra have jumped ahead of the competition by securing early access to 4G 700MHz services ahead of a national launch set for January 1 next year.
The improved 4G service will be switched on and trialled in the coming weeks after both Optus and Telstra convinced the Australian Communications and Media Authority to award early access licenses across metro and regional areas, incuding Perth, Fremantle, Esperance, Mildura, Mt Isa and Griffith.
The lower 700MHz frequency will enable wider 4G coverage around the country while also offering better penetration into low reception locations; including buildings, lifts and car park
Up to 20 times faster than 3G networks, Telstra is already producing 4G 700MHz specific HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphones to join its other 4G services, including 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2500MHz frequency bands along with its main 850MHz mobile range.
“Our plan is largely around building a logical and efficient rollout program of sites, noting we’ll be getting full access in January,” Telstra’s group managing director of networks, Mike Wright told ZDNet.
“We’re ramping up the build schedule so that come January we’ll have a reasonable footprint to activate when we get access to the spectrum.
“700MHz we’ve always said is good for regional Australia, or low density areas where it will go further,” Optus vice president of mobile networks Andrew Smith said.
“We’re keen to get to the 1st of January where we do have wider access to the spectrum, but we’re taking the opportunity where it exists, and where it is operationally practical to be able to access the spectrum early if we can,” Smith said.
Both companies spent a combined $2 billion on securing 700 MHz spectrum at government auction last year, with Telstra forking over $1.3 billion for the winning bid.
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