Speaking from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Telstra Chief Executive Officer David Thodey and Ericsson Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg revealed a multi-pronged network strategy to meet the future needs of Australian consumers.

 

Mr Thodey said the continued partnership would see Telstra and Ericsson continue to work together to build and innovate on the Telstra mobile network, helping to ensure Australia remained at the forefront of mobile connectivity.

 

Telstra is very proud of the work that we are undertaking with Ericsson and we are very pleased to have them on board as our strategic supplier for the rollout of our LTE network, Mr Thodey said.

 

We have seen demand for data on our wireless network grow rapidly since it was launched in 2006 and we are trialling some exciting technology advances that will ensure our customers continue to receive outstanding service into the future.

Telstra has started using LTE in the 900MHz band and is running trials of the next generation of that technology, known as LTE-Advanced, with plans to introduce it to the network in late 2013.

 

These trials are in addition to separate innovation work on LTE-Broadcast technology (eMBMS) and Heterogenous Networks (HetNets).

 

These initiatives will ensure the strength of our network remains a distinguishing feature for years to come,” Mr Thodey said.

 

Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg said: Ericsson and Telstra have a long history of innovative network partnership and we are proud to bring the next generation of mobile broadband to Australia. Telstra's mobile broadband network is globally recognised as an advanced, world-class service and this strategy will allow Telstra to continue to deliver a superior user experience for both existing and future subscribers.

Also taking part in the announcement were key Telstra partners Sierra Wireless and Qualcomm Technologies Inc., who play a leading role in supporting device development that leverages Telstra's network.

 

We are able to bring these services to Australia quickly, due to strategic alliances with Ericsson, Sierra Wireless and Qualcomm Technologies Inc. who are again working with us to develop a supportive eco-system for these technologies, Mr Thodey said.

Chief Technology Officer of Sierra Wireless, Philippe Guillemette said: “We are pleased that we continue our longstanding collaboration with Telstra, Ericsson and Qualcomm to push mobile broadband technology forward and to provide upgrades and devices for the network.

 

Executive Vice President, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Co-President, Qualcomm Mobile and Computing, Dr. Murthy Renduchintala said: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has long been a leader in developing chipsets for the mobile operator industry. We were pleased to be providing multimode, multiband 3G/4G chipset solution enabling Telstra’s Carrier Aggregation network. LTE carrier aggregation is an important new technology that combines radio channels within and across bands to increase user data rates, reduce latency and enable LTE Category 4 downlink through put speeds of up to 150Mbps for operators without 20MHz of contiguous spectrum.

 

Mr Thodey said this is the same team who brought first brought LTE technology to Australia in 2011 and previously launched the world's first dual-channel HSPA+ network in 2010.

 

Attendees at Mobile World Congress can view a demonstration of the LTE-A Carrier Advanced solution at:

Ericsson Hall: Hall 2

Qualcomm Booth:

Exhibit Hall 3 #3B64