Engadget Mobile

Telstra kills off CDMA, completes migration to GSM

Chris Ziegler — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:52:00 EST

Oh, come on, Qualcomm, show a little emotion; shed a tear or something! After some two years of planning and urging legacy customers to migrate, Australia's Telstra has flipped a big, red, scary-looking switch somewhere, sending its CDMA network into darkness, never to return. The move effectively obsoletes roughly 3,500 CDMA sites around the country along with what the carrier bills as "redundant equipment" -- a nice little cost savings, no doubt, not to mention the freeing of significant chunks of spectrum for more advanced services. As you might have guessed, Telstra is jumping through these hoops to get customers onto its Next G-branded UMTS network, mirroring a widespread trend away from CDMA-based technologies and toward the GSM roadmap. Globally, it seems like CDMA2000 has years of life left -- but without a shred of major carrier support for the 4G path, its glory days may be numbered.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

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iPhone coming to Telstra, possibly in firmware 2.0 form

Chris Ziegler — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:33:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Telstra, GSM, EDGE, Apple, OS X

Telstra boss Sol Trujillo's total non-denial late last year that the iPhone would eventually be hitting his network left little doubt in our minds that Aussies' iPhone-less days were numbered, but in case we needed any more evidence to close the case, we think we have it here. Turns out that Telstra has put out feelers to hire a business analyst for an "iPhone search application" on a 2 to 3 month contract, and since we figure there aren't going to be a whole heck of a lot of non-Telstra users (or non-Australians, for that matter) that give two flips about such an app, it can only mean that the carrier will be bringing some iPhone love to its domestic airwaves in the not-too-distant future. The only real question here is whether the "application" in question is a web app or a native one -- you know, the kind that the SDK and firmware 2.0 would be required to support. Guess we'll know soon enough.

[Via 9 to 5 Mac, thanks Chris]

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Telstra gives i-mate's 8502 and 9502 some love

Chris Ziegler — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:55:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Others, Telstra, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, HSUPA

Not only has Telstra secured exclusive rights to i-mate's freshly minted 8502 and 9502 Windows Mobile superphones in Australia -- it turns out they'll also be the very first carrier to launch 'em anywhere in the world when they hit shelves early next month. The carrier has historically been an excellent customer of i-mate's, bringing a grand total of ten devices to its airwaves so far in a five-year deal. Lucky Aussies will see the 8502 landing for $999 AUD (about $898) while the ~~Sidekick~~ 9502 drops for a whopping $1099 AUD (about $988).

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Qualcomm plans multiple HSPA+ trials this year

Chris Ziegler — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:18:00 EST

Filed under: Telstra, HSDPA, Misc, HSUPA, Hutchison 3

Why can't we just have and enjoy the latest, greatest pre-4G technology for a few frickin' minutes without having our collective attentions immediately redirected to the next latest, greatest thing? Qualcomm has gone and spoiled all the fun by announcing that it'll be setting up HSPA+ trials with Australia's Telstra, Italy's Telecom Italia, Hutchison 3 in the UK, and Telefonica this year to deliver downlink speeds up to 28Mbps as an evolutionary upgrade to the networks' already-deployed HSPA systems. If all goes well, Qualcomm expects that the technology could be commercialized as early as 2009, potentially putting it head-to-head with the very first volleys in the race to true 4G via LTE. 28Mbps, 173Mbps... we think we know which one we'd rather have in our backyard.

[Via MobileBurn]

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iPhone coming to Australia on Telstra?

Nilay Patel — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:06:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Telstra, Apple

With France, Germany, and the UK already locked down and the Rogers deal in Canada starting to feel inevitable, iPhone carrier rumors are starting to come in from farther and farther afield -- the latest based on comments from Sol Trujillo, CEO of Australia's Telstra. Although Telstra officials had previously suggested that Apple "stick to their knitting" (really!), Trujillo was a little more conciliatory this time around, saying that Telstra and Apple had engaged in talks about the device and that Telstra was "interested and exploring that option." Trujillo didn't address any details, of course, but he did drop this juicy tidbit for all you iPhone hatas in the crowd: "Almost every supplier has big plans in the next six to 12 months with their version of an iPhone in response." Let the countdown begin!

[Thanks, Ashish]

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Telstra activates 7.2Mbps HSDPA, users rejoice

Darren Murph — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 05:48:00 EST

Filed under: Telstra, HSDPA, Misc, HSUPA

We've been hearing that Telstra had the means to deliver some pretty impressive numbers via its Next G HSDPA network, and sure enough, the carrier seems to have finally activated it. According to its website and an independent report, users can now see download speeds ranging from 3Mbps to upwards of 6Mbps, while clocking upload rates between 300Kbps and 1.3Mbps. Telstra claims that users can see peak speeds of 7.2Mbps / 1.9Mbps, but of course, that's under "ideal conditions." So, if you're a Telstra user looking to get in on the high-speed fun, head on out and pick up a 7.2Mbps-class data card, and for those who already own a firmware upgradeable 3.6Mbps-class card, you should be receiving instructions to update shortly.

[Via ITWire, thanks Simon]

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Telstra iPhone SIM hack video

Brian White — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:41:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Telstra, Apple

Although the voiceover on this YouTube video was almost too soothing to listen to, the demo being explained definitely got our excitable attention. We're not sure about this hack's details, but the user demonstrating his iPhone's non-AT&T outgoing call usage here gets two thumbs up from us. Apparently, his iPhone was modified to allow non-AT&T SIMs to make outgoing calls on the Telstra network, although no incoming calls were demo'ed in the video. From watching it, wethinks registration on any GSM network would probably be possible. And catch that authentic GSM radio noise interference that's clearly audible.

[Thanks, Greg]

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O2, Telstra pull plug on i-mode

Chris Ziegler — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:48:00 EST

Filed under: O2, Telstra, NTT DoCoMo

Yeah, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode mobile data service does alright in Japan -- in fact, we curse the heavens every day that we aren't there to enjoy it -- but it has been met with considerably less success in the twelve other countries where it's offered in licensed form. O2 and Telstra are both phasing out their i-mode offerings -- O2 in 2009, Telstra in December -- with O2 saying that despite extremely high satisfaction among its i-mode users, a general lack of hardware available to support the service (isn't it just a deck of content on a 3G phone?) prevents it from moving forward. Of course, this doesn't spell the end of either carrier's mobile content or 3G efforts -- far from it, in fact -- with Telstra encouraging users to migrate to Next G.

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Telstra's getting huge data speeds -- at record distances

Brian White — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 17:59:00 EST

Filed under: Software, Telstra, HSDPA

Are you ready for one of those pesky but necessary cell sites to reach beyond the few miles that many of them are provisioned for now? Get rid of those nasty watt-limits and stretch that single cell out to 100 kilometers. Well, not really -- but if you're into cell coverage, you might have tasty chops for this. Telstra and Ericsson (one of the largest mobile infrastructure companies) say that a new record of cellular data coverage and speeds has been established with Telstra's Next G HSDPA network -- to the tune of 200 kilometers in diameter and data speeds of 14.4 mbps on the downside. How did they do this? Well, the pair installed advanced Ericsson equipment on several mountaintops in Australia (how quaint) to get that range. Ok, we're ready to move to a mountain range now, just to get that awesomely stretched cellular coverage. How about speeds, you may ask? Telstra stated that peak uplink speeds of 1.9 mbps and downlink speeds of 14.4 mbps were achieved. Not too shabby.

[Thanks, Lucas H.]

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CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XXVII - Telstra tells Apple to "stick to your knitting"

Paul Miller — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, ATT, Telstra, EDGE, Apple, OS X

We're not really sure what Telstra has to gain by dissing the iPhone, given the fact that it happens to be the only carrier in Australia to support EDGE, making them a natural fit for carrying the device, but diss it they did, with operations chief Greg Winn letting Apple know just how out-of-place he thinks the company is in the phone world: "There's an old saying - stick to your knitting - and Apple is not a mobile phone manufacturer, that's not their knitting." We wonder if anyone tried that line the last time Apple pulled something like this, with that little "iPod" thing of theirs a few years back. He continued, "You can pretty much be assured that Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and ZTE and others will be coming out with devices that have similar functionality." Oddly enough, other than that rather derogatory comment at the outset, Winn had some pretty legitimate criticisms of the phone. "I think people overreacted to it - there was not a lot of tremendously new stuff if you think about it," he said. The touchscreen doesn't really excite the guy, since it was "only a matter of time before it went to the device." This is evidenced by the flood of touchscreen phones we've been seeing this month and last. He also raises an eyebrow at the non-replaceable battery, and that while he's "absolutely sure that device will be successful initially," he's in doubt of "how much money are they willing to devote to all of the life cycle management and upgrades." He also seems put-off by the Cingular exclusivity: "They did an exclusive with Cingular and they talked about a global rollout - well, Cingular is not a global company." Maybe Winn just didn't get the memo that there's a world rollout on the way for next year, and he was on the list. "Was" being the key word here.

[Thanks, John K]

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7.2Mbps HSDPA service to hit Cingular next year

Darren Murph — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 11:26:00 EST

Filed under: ATT, Telstra, HSDPA

There's always thrilling news coming from ITU Telecom World in Hong Kong for those residing overseas, but this time it's the Americans rejoicing. A Qualcomm official has stated that USA's own Cingular Wireless "is set to launch" a 7.2Mbps HSDPA service this coming January (at the earliest). While we're not sure if that figure is theoretical or otherwise, nor do we know its complementary upload speed, we've found that the service will hit speed-hungry laptops equipped with PCMCIA slots real soon. While upping the speeds of HSDPA services seems to be all the rage these days, we're glad to see such a substantial jump happening right here. Notably, Cingular probably won't be alone in such launches come 2007, as Australian service provider Telstra is already planning to hit its customers up with the same luxury, while a spokesperson from SK Telecom boasted that its networks were "already designed" to support the blazing speeds, insinuating that a boost in service could be just around the bend. Per usual, we've got no details as to just how much coinage this speed will demand, nor any way to tell if this January date will actually stick, but we've got just about a month until we know for certain. [Warning: subscription required]

Update: A Qualcomm official pinged to let us know that this information was supposedly never given to Telecoms Korea, and that Qualcomm "doesn't speculate on operator plans." So there you have it, maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't.

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Telstra rolls deep with Motorola RAZR MAXX

Chris Ziegler — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:03:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Telstra, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

There's still no sign of when exactly we might be able to get our grubby American paws on a Verizon-branded MAXX, but Australia's Telstra Mobile is gearing up to deliver the Christmas goodies a little early this year. As a refresher, the V6 MAXX takes the reigns as king of the RAZR hill, rocking some mighty speedy HSDPA, a 2 megapixel external and VGA internal cam, 50MB of user memory, QVGA main display and touch-sensitive external controls. The launch of the MAXX down under dovetails nicely with Telstra's recent launch of their nationwide "Next G" HSDPA network; best of all, it sounds like you should be able to march into your local shop before too long and pick 'er up. We're beet red with jealousy, but if anyone has the chance to check it out, drop us a line in comments and let us know the verdict!

[Thanks, Jewburg]

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Telstra launches Next G mobile broadband network

Donald Melanson — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:31:00 EST

Filed under: Telstra

While most our Australian readers will no doubt know about this already, those that don't follow mobile developments from down under as closely should still be interested to know that Telstra flipped the switch on its Next G mobile broadband network on Friday, covering a full 98% of Australia in speedy HSDPA goodness. Coming in at a cost of $1 billion Australian dollars (just under three-quarters of a billion US), Next G looks to be the world's geographically largest national 3G network and, according to Telstra, is up to five times faster than other 3G networks, with download speeds averaging between 550Kbps and 1.5Mbps and peak network speeds reaching up to 3.6Mbps, further increasing to 14.4Mbps early next year. Telstra's also putting all that speed to use right off the bat, offering 12 FOXTEL channels exclusive to Next G handsets, as well as access to Telstra's BigPond service, which'll give users news, entertainment, and other exclusive content, including Warner Bros. movies and BBC television programs.

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