Australia's fastest and largest mobile broadband network, Telstra's turbo-charged NEXT G is now live across Australia, built in a record ten months. The network can deliver voice and broadband services to 98 per cent of the Australia population.

Turbo-charged with High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), NEXT G is up to 50 times faster than dial-up and up to five times faster than other 3GSM networks. Telstra customers will experience network download speeds averaging 550Kbps to 1.5Mbps, and peak network speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, increasing up to 14.4Mbps early next year.

Mr Svanberg said Telstra's advanced mobile broadband network was designed and built with an evolution path to support the future technology roadmap. Ericsson expects it to reach peak network speeds of up to 40Mbps by 2009, in line with the development of global standardisation.

With the service, subscribers will be able to

• watch 12 channels of FOXTEL exclusively on their NEXT G handset, including news, sport, wildlife documentaries, and children's programs, with more to come;
• access Telstra's award winning BigPond Mobile service offering entertainment, news, and exclusive content including AFL, NRL, and V8 Supercars;
• watch Warner Bros. classic movies and the BBC's best television programs on their PCs through the BigPond Movie Download service;
• download a music track to both their mobile and computer in 1-click; and 
• benefit from Telstra's 'locate me' technology which matches their location with their information request through Sensis services such as CitySearch, WhereIs, Trading Post and Yellow Mobile.

NEXT G customers will be able to install a NEXT G" turbo card into their computer, providing high-speed access to the Internet for business, entertainment, or personal applications, such as browsing the web or email.

The NEXT G turbo card will be especially useful for business customers, allowing high speed data access across Australia and 30 countries around the world, advancing the way enterprises operate, making them more cost effective, productive and internationally competitive.

At launch Samsung A701 and A501, Telstra ZTE 850/51, LGTU500, i-mate JASJAM and one data card (GT Max) will be available and Telstra plan to make 30 devices available in a 18 months roadmap.

via engadgetmobile