Australian carrier Optus has announced its LTE rollout plans. From April 2012, Optus will deliver its first 4G LTE services to Newcastle, Port Stephens, the Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie areas. A 4G capital city rollout will begin next month with Phase One to deliver LTE services in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth from mid-2012. Phase Two of the rollout will see an expansion of 4G LTE services to other capital cities and selected regional centres. 

Optus has been already awarded a license to trial LTE services in the 700 MHz spectrum band. The trial will take place in Bendigo, Victoria. Optus is launching LTE services in partnership with Huawei.

"As Australians increasingly access digital services over mobile, such as Optus TV Now and Optus Smart Safe, we need to ensure we use the best spectrum available to deliver 4G LTE technology. Optus believes that 700MHz will be vital for delivering 4G LTE, especially in regional Australia, because of its ability to deliver LTE over longer distances," said Mr Paul O’Sullivan, Optus Chief Executive.

According to company, Optus has invested nearly $2 billion in the past four years and we will spend over $500 million in this financial year alone on its mobile network.