Telstra to increase Australian 4G coverage by 60% by mid 2013

Telstra has just announced news of their impending improvements to their 4G LTE network. As Australia’s largest telco and the pioneering provider of 4G in Australia, this is very welcome news from the Big T.

The number of 4G devices totals half a million, with smartphones making up quite a large portion of that. Brendon Riley, Telstra’s Chief Operations Officer said:

Our 160,000 4G smartphone customers are already telling us that 4G is improving their mobile experience, with research showing they’re more likely to reach for their device over their PC to search the web, social network and bank online — compared with 3G smartphone owners.

Telstra has claimed (above) that 4G phone users are more likely to utilize certain data-specific phone functions than 3G users. While this would be expected, it is nice to see that the Australian consumer is jumping on-board with 4G.

But, it’s not all about the user. It’s also about the coverage. Riley goes on to describe the further developments from Telstra’s end:

Once the network expansion is complete Telstra 4G will cover even more of Australia’s highest population centres. For instance, coverage will stretch out in a 10-15 kilometre radius from the Sydney GPO and a 15-20 kilometre radius from the Melbourne GPO.

The new network will involve 1,000 new 4G/LTE base station installations by mid-2013, which will read 66% of Australia – up from 40%. This expansion from Telstra will be incredibly useful for the Australian public and encourage more LTE capable phones to hit our shores. Did someone say the 4G LTE Galaxy S III that we heard “is coming” to Australia?

Seeing as though the 4G market in Australia is dominated by Android (and a little of Windows Phone) this is great news for Android.

Do you use a 4G LTE phone? Will increased coverage help sway you over?

Source: Telstra