Telstra will soon begin trials of 4G HSPA-plus technology aimed at upgrading its Next G network to speeds of up to 42 megabits per second, chief technology officer Hugh Bradlow confirmed at yesterdays Broadband and Beyond conference in Sydney.
And even faster Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology at up to 100Mbps is likely to follow, he said, making it possible for Telstra to offer high-quality full-length movie downloads and other multimedia content direct to mobile phones.
Next G's current HSPA (high-speed packet access) technology tops out at 7.2Mbps. Previous international statements on HSPA+ have suggested a likely top speed of 28Mbps Bradlow's is the first CDN has seen claiming 42Mbps.
HSPA+ technology is designed to offer higher throughput by using multiple antennas on both base stations and handsets another example of MIMO, or multiple input multiple output as it's called in the Wi-Fi world, where it's
used in the latest 802.11n platform.
