Just nine days after the Next G™ network’s first birthday Telstra has announced it has achieved the milestone of the same or better coverage on the Next G™ network as on CDMA.

This announcement was backed up by hard facts – many months of testing and optimisation by Telstra and its strategic partner Ericsson – to get to the point where scientific and engineering reviews showed the Next G™ network was bigger, better and faster than CDMA on every measure.

This means the Next G™ network coverage is now available in all areas where there is published CDMA network coverage, as well as in more than 45 locations which previously did not have CDMA coverage.

The tests found the Next G™ network:

• covers more than two million square kilometres and is 25% larger than the published coverage of the CDMA network at more than 1.6 million square kilometres and is more than 100 times larger than any competing 3G network
• has more than 6,000 sites, nearly 75% more than the CDMA network’s 3,480 sites
• enables mobile phone coverage to more than 98.9% of Australia’s population, compared to the CDMA network’s more than 98%
• enables wireless broadband to more than 98.9% of the population, compared to 49% of the population on the CDMA 1xEV-DO
• offers typical user download speeds* of 550 kbps – 3 Mbps, compared to a maximum of 300 - 600 kbps on CDMA's 1xEV-DO
• offers peak network uplink speed of 1.9 Mbps compared to 153 kbps offered on the CDMA 1xRTT and 1x EV-DO
• supports international roaming in more than 170 countries, compared to nine countries for CDMA
• achieved network call drop performance of less than 1% within just 10 months, compared to six years for CDMA

The head of Telstra Country Wide, Geoff Booth, reinforced that Telstra wanted to hear from customers who were experiencing any issues so that it could help them get the best out of the Next G™ network.

“Customers should speak to Telstra about the Next G™ handsets, equipment and accessories, such as external antennas and car kits, that will suit their needs and enable them to maximise their usage experience,” Mr Booth said.

Media release

• Telstra's Next ™ network is now 'bigger, better and faster than the old CDMA' (www.telstra.com.au)

* Speeds may vary due to congestion, distance from the cell, local conditions, hardware, software and other factors.
* Like any other mobile network, Next G™ mobile telephone coverage depends in part on where you are, what particular handset you are using and whether your handset has an external antenna attached.