Telstra plans to upgrade its Next G network with 4G LTE technology later this year. Announcing the plan at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Chief Executive Officer David Thodey said the company plans to upgrade its existing Next G network with LTE technology in the central business districts of all Australian capital cities and selected regional centres by the end of 2011.

“Telstra is proud to again be a technology leader, providing Australians with leading-edge mobile broadband services on the world’s largest national mobile network,” Mr Thodey said.

The planned upgrade will use the company’s existing 1800MHz spectrum to bring 4G to areas where traffic demand is most concentrated.  It will be integrated with Telstra’s existing HSPA+ service, which uses the 850MHz spectrum range.

By the end of 2011 Telstra plans to sell dual mode LTE/HSPA+ mobile broadband devices that operate seamlessly across the 1800MHz and 850MHz spectrum ranges, giving customers the benefits of 4G where it is available.  However, there will be no change in the quality or coverage footprint for customers who do not wish to upgrade their devices.

The planned upgrade will not require incremental investment to existing plans, instead being funded from Telstra’s existing budget for capital expenditure.

“We see the integration of LTE technology into the Next G™ network as a way to continue to deliver high quality services and meet growing customer demand, and we are very happy to bring this service to Australia thanks to a partnership with our long-time collaborators Ericsson, Sierra Wireless and Qualcomm,” Mr Thodey added.

Mr Thodey confirmed that, as well as deploying 4G, Telstra would also upgrade parts of its network over time with next-generation HSPA+ technologies.  These upgrades will provide customers in other parts of Australia with 4G-like services using Telstra’s 850MHz spectrum.