Telstra launches world's first 21Mbps mobile broadband

Telstra has announced at this year's Mobile World Congress at Barcelona that it will be the first in the world to offer 21Mbps mobile broadband service. This is possible with the Telstra Turbo 21 modem, which was jointly developed by Telstra, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless. Targeted at business customers, the service offering will launch next Monday, with a consumer offering to follow in April. Typical upload speeds have been pegged at up to 8Mbps.

The 21Mbps mobile broadband is possible as Telstra has already upgraded its network to HSPA+ last year. In fact, it is planning to upgrade its network further, to a maximum speed of 42Mbps by the end of the year. Even as consumers gravitate toward smartphones and higher mobile data consumption, Telcos are rushing to increase network speeds and coverage in anticipation of the demand.

Still, it must be remembered that all the talk about maximum speeds is only theoretical at this point, and actual real world performance remains to be seen.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at telecomasia.net