Telstra Enhances Its Next G Network

Telstra, Australia's leading mobile carrier, together with Ericsson, have announced a new feature for the Next G Australian network, namely the so-called 3G Direct Tunnel. This 3G Direct Tunnel will allow Telstra's network to function at an increased capacity and, therefore, to support the continuously growing mobile broadband traffic.

Ericsson has called the activation of this new feature a "historic step" for the world of mobile network, and it has also stated that it's the first company to work with a mobile carrier in deploying such a feature.

The 3G Direct Tunnel doesn't need any extra equipment than the one the current Next G network has, as it can be implemented only with software changes.

Mike Wright, Telstra Executive Director for Wireless, declared in a press release: "Our strategy is to invest in keeping our Next G network the most powerful and advanced mobile network in the world. 3G Direct Tunnel is an important feature to increase our packet data network capacity, profitability and further improves the mobile broadband service for the increasing number of customers enjoying our high-speed services in Australia."

Melih Tufan, Head of Product Line Mobile Packet Core at Ericsson, added: "As the leading global vendor of mobile technology, Ericsson is expected to be first to market with state-of-the-art networking features and solutions. We realize how important this is to our customers who are operating in a very competitive market and are very pleased to have delivered such an important network feature to Telstra."

Serving about 9.5 million customers, Telstra is the largest mobile carrier in Australia, ahead of Optus (7.2 million users) and Vodafone (3.5 million users). Despite this, and despite its improved Next G network, Telstra is not the operator that will bring Apple's new iPhone 3G to Australia on July 11. Only Optus and Vodafone have announced to carry Apple's new and long-awaited handset in the Southern Hemisphere country, and this might cost Telstra some subscribers. Anyway, the most important thing, for now, is that Telstra will be offering better 3G services.