Telstra: LTE and NBN are complementary
- 08 March, 2011 10:18
- Comments 4
LTE wireless technology will work alongside the National Broadband Network (NBN), not against it, according to Telstra.
This is yet another blow to the Federal Oppositions argument the $36 billion fibre broadband network should be canned in favour of a cheaper wireless approach.
Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is a proponent of a national wireless network and has often cited improved wireless capabilities and the popularity of a mobile lifestyle to push his case.
“We see LTE as just another wireless technology and essentially just another means of carrying traffic,” Telstra executive director of network and access technologies, Mike Wright, said. “If you talk about NBN and you talk about wireless, they’re absolutely complementary to each other.
In February, Telstra announced it was rolling out a 4G LTE network to be completed by year’s end .
Click here to explore the difference between FD-LTE and TD-LTE.
Last week, Optus CEO, Paul O’Sullivan, echoed the same sentiments, claiming there is a place for both fixed-line and wireless broadband working together.
Drawing on the launch of numerous tablet devices at the Consumer Electronic Expo in Las Vegas this year, Wright said the new broadband landscape is all about providing a seamless connection with home and mobile devices.
“The bottom-line is we’re going to see a combination of wireless broadband traffic out and about,” he said. “You just can’t serve high data traffic volume to big screens [in the home] with wireless.
“You need some heavy lifting technology and you compliment it with mobile broadband technology.”
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Comments
Francis
1
Smartphones and tablets already roam to cheaper and faster Wi-Fi where available, which will be almost all the time when NBN fibre serves 93% of buildings.
It's great to see the strides in LTE and other wireless delivery protocols, but the universal fibre will be the great enabler for uncongested mobile wireless.
rational
2
As usual the press generalise with the NBN. Few people are against the NBN fibre backbone or business fibre, it's the last mile FTTH that is the expensive problem child.
People now want convenience, not to be tied to a fixed connection (wi-fi or not).
Pricing for 3G/LTE will be much better by the time NBN FTTH rolls out in any great quantity next year. If there isnt a federal election first.
Peter H
3
Speak for yourself "rational".
Most people I speak to, and I mean NON computer people not the geeks who always want the best, see the need for fixed wire broadband.
Even my mother complains about the ADSL she gets and how slow it is when kids come out of school each afternoon.
Most people have a desktop PC in the home. Whilst ipads and phones (and laptops) are handy for travelling, people still do their major bandwidth-hungry downloading (youtube, software patches etc) from the home.
Have you ever tried VoIP over 3G?
And what about the latest software patch - up to 800Gb for Windows 7 SP1 and similar sizes for Apple OSX major updates. Should we ALL do that on wireless, and blow half our monthly quota in one hit?
If you like wireless, then great. Use it. But don't impose it on the masses.
Radios were fine in the 1930s too - what did we all want telephones for when we can cross the road to talk to our neighbours?
singo79
4
I totally with Peter H and his sentiments against rational. I don't mind having a wired connection, in fact I crave it's reliability, speed, latency (lack of) and cost effectiveness compared to wireless broadband.
I have a 200GB data plan on ADSL2+ and use this the most, but I also have a pre-paid NextG service for my iPad and I also have a data bundle for my iPhone. I use these wireless services to augment my Internet usage, it gives me the convenience to be connect to the net when away from the home, but the speeds offered, data limits and latency only mean that it is a gap filler.
Personally I rather the fixed services, but I can see a place for wireless. I totally agree that both the NBN and mobile wireless can exist together and enhance each other's service. Mobile broadband will be faster if more people are on fixed services and only use wireless to supplement their needs for connection away from the home, with fibre more then adequate to handle the high demand for faster speeds and data hungry Australians. With more traffic going over the NBN the mobile wireless market will have faster connections and enhance the users experience away from the home.