CORPORATE and business customers on Telstra's Next G wireless broadband network could soon be downloading files at twice their current speeds.
Telstra will upgrade on the network using dual-channel technology, which allows carriers to use two channels simultaneously on select mobile base towers to achieve peak download speeds of up to 42 megabits per second.
But real speeds are more likely to range from 1.1Mbps to 20Mbps, less than half the advertised speed, according to Telstra executive director of wireless Mike Wright. Upload speeds range from 300 kilobits per second to 3Mbps.
"It's possible to achieve better than the typical user speed claims, but those claims occur in the ideal network environment with good signal quality. When you're out on the streets you get a lot of variation where the network is subject to signal quality, your location and the network load," Mr Wright said.
Telstra was due to announce the speed boost last week, but delayed the announcement so it would not been seen as interfering in the election, in which broadband was a key theme.
The upgrade will cover about 50 per cent of the population, with all capital CBDs receiving the speed boost while another 100 regional centres -- including Wollongong in NSW, Bendigo in Victoria and Townsville in Queensland -- will get speed increases of 500Kbps to 8Mbps.
Download speeds fall to between 500Kbps and 3Mbps for customers outside the CBDs and nominated regional centres.
Mr Wright said Telstra would try to extend availability of the speed increase as demand rose.
The peak download speed increase, from 21Mbps to 42Mbps, was made possible by a software upgrade to Telstra's Next G network in February.
The upgrade was achieved with network partner Ericsson, with Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless joining to deliver a HSPA+ Dual Carrier chipset and device.
At present, the upgrade is only available to Telstra business, enterprise and government customers who buy and use the telco's Ultimate USB modem.
Telstra is expecting 42Mbps-compatible PDAs and handsets to be available in the coming year.
The telco has released the Ultimate USB modem for $299 outright or $0 on a 24-month contract at $69 a month, including 6GB of download data. Those prices could drop in the year ahead as the telco invests to chase and keep more customers.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Hutchison Australia has more than doubled the data download on most of its mobile cap plans. Customers on VHA's $29 consumer plan have had their data quota increased from 50MB to 200MB. Those on a $49 plan have had the 500MB quota tripled to 1.5GB.
Telstra logo.
On Monday, Australian telecommunications company Telstra has introduced dual carrier  standard for broadband Internet business customers in the  network. This is the first time this technology is being introduced on national scale. The bandwidths the users can deploy increased into two to three times, with Telstra becoming the world’s fastest national mobile broadband service. The switch started with enabling the service for premium users. After some feedback, Telstra may expand the plan.

=== Introduction ===

The higher speeds for wireless are intended to simplify and ease multitasking of users.

John Paitaridis, Telstra's executive director, network products and services in Enterprise & Government, said "One of the reasons we decided to launch first to Enterprise And Government and Business customers is that clients are saying that their ability to access applications quicker makes a difference to their business and when they start to equate time savings and doing calculations around productivity it does become a return on investment."

Telstra Business Group Managing Director Deena Shiff also stated that the efforts aren't as sudden as it might seem, having feedback of many users as the base.


=== Technology ===
Telstra GSM and NextG mobile phone tower
Previous modems were able to reach peak speed 21Mbps, with real life speeds ranging from 0.5Mbps to 8 Mbps. The theoretically expected maximum of the new technology is 42Mbps with user speeds varying between 1.1 and 20 Mbps. The new speed is twice as fast. This is caused by that the dual-carrier "Evolved High-Speed Packet Access" technology allows networks to send and receive wireless data using two channels simultaneously. This technology can be deployed on Next G networks. Telstra switched to them in February, thus making the switch to HSPA possible now.

=== Election campaign ===
Tony Abbott in 2010.
Telstra delayed the implementation of the new technology until elections end. This decision was intended to avoid wrong interpretation of them by . Coalition's claims include that wireless networks can be an alternative to the  "''fibre-to-the-home''" proposal to introduce more expensive wired Internet. The announcement of the new technology, initially planned on August 25, was delayed, with Telstra spokesman Craig Middleton explaining, "We just didn't want to feel like we were influencing the telecommunications debate."

The political parties have different plans on development and funds on the Internet. The Labor party aims to spend AUD 43 billion to bring 1 Gbps wired Internet nationwide, and the Coalition plans to spend AUD 6 billion to introduce a variety of improvements including upgrade of existing copper Internet as well as expansion of wireless Internet to support 12Mbps. Opposition leader Tony Abbott has said in the past that Australians shouldn’t assume wireless technologies won’t ever be comparable to fixed-line technology. Telstra's upgrade shows that wireless broadband is reaching the 100 Mbps minimum speeds promised by Labor's national broadband network.

=== Distribution ===
A NextG Telstra wireless USB modem
Telstra has only 2000 devices which support the new technology. This is why the opportunity to try it out is being given only to the Business plan customers, and they receive it for the same price as they were paying for the previous NextG plan. Since October 5, the device will be available for sale, with the Business customers able to buy it with 75% discount and a prepaid data allowance. The upgrade is expected to cover roughly 50% of the population. This is happening at the same time as one of Telstra's competitors  is doubling data download quotas on mobile cap plans.

As some testing showed, real life download speeds reached only about the half of the maximum. Telstra executive director of wireless Mike Wright explained that the predicted figures were the estimates, with real life speeds lower due to interfering environmental conditions: "It's possible to achieve better than the typical user speed claims, but those claims occur in the ideal network environment with good signal quality. When you're out on the streets you get a lot of variation where the network is subject to signal quality, your location and the network load."