Hello 4G: Telstra High Speed Handsets Hit Q1?

"Customers snapped up 4G dongles on the day, and look forward to the first 4G handsets coming into store in the first quarter of next year." wrote Linda McGregor, Telstra Innovation, Products and Marketing. Previously, the telco said 4G handsets would run on Next G network in the first half of next year, but failed to be more specific any further with a date. The telco is the first to deploy 4G Long Term Evolution broadband technology on Next G and hopes to roll it out nationally to 80 regional centres by the end of the year. 4G operates across the dual mode LTE/HSPA+ mobile broadband devices operate across dual 1800MHz and 850MHz spectrum bands allowing speeds as high as 150 megabits per second. 4G also lets you do more things simultaneously on your mobile device. Telstra's first 4G base stations using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, has been switched on in metropolitan areas and main cities including Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. The HTC 4G, revealed in September, will be among Telstra's first smartphones boasting the faster web speeds, which is almost twice as fast as the current model HTC 3G smartphones like the Desire S or Sensation, meaning video streaming or movie downloads will be twice as fast. The HTC will run 4G but will also operate 3G in areas where 4G is not available. HTC 4G has a massive a 4.5-inch display, a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU and runs Android Gingerbread. There are other devices including Samsung's Galaxy S II 4G, LG Optimus 4G all in the pipeline. But unfortunately, a 3G ready phone like a HTC Desire, iPhone or BlackBerry will not run on the 4G spectrum, although 4G capable devices will run 3G. In other words, multimedia lovers will have to trade in their current model for a 4G capable smartphone is they want to take advantage of the increased network capabilities and ditto for tablets. Vodafone and Optus are also rolling out 4G LTE technology, with the latter expected to go live in regional areas in April 2012, meaning it will be hot on Telstra's 4G tail.