Early this week, Telstra announced their launch of the country’s first Third-Generation (3G) mobile service based on the CDMA2000 1xRTT technology.
It may be marketed as “3G” (which everyone wants right here and now!) But in reality, it’s more like “2.75 G” since it’s far from the minimum 2 Mbps (megabits per second) specified in the official 3G definition. It’s just another step in the evolutionary path to true 3G offerings in the near future.
Although the availability of this new CDMA-based service will mean faster data speeds than what’s currently available (dial-up and GSM/GPRS), Telstra has so far offered this to business customers only - with the service currently up and running in greater Sydney and Melbourne regions only.
CDMA 1X, as Telstra refers to it, will offer enhanced data rates of either 72 or 144 kbps (kilobits per second) - which is a far cry from the 40-50 kbps attainable via GPRS, and is also dependent on the handset’s GPRS Class rating too. Should you move out of a geographic area that does not support CDMA 1X, you will need to revert back to standard circuit-switched data (CSD) - or dial-up - connections.
As far as pricing plans go, Telstra has the “Pay As You Go” option (20 cents per 10kB or part, plus a 22 cent connection fee) or you can opt for the “Monthly Bundles” (three bundles available, dependent on data volumes and the data speeds required).
For more information, you can visit the Telstra website here or call their Customer Service Support line on 1300 131 816.
