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Next G Coverage Ahead Of Schedule |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Wednesday, 18 July 2007 |
Telstra has said its roll-out of 3G services to replace the CDMA network so critical to regional communitications is more than two months ahead of schedule.
The telco sais said Next G network coverage would be the same or better than
CDMA by mid-October this year. That's two months ahead of schedule.
Although a contract by a third party to audit the new Telstra network
is yet to report, the company said the coverage estimate comes as the
result of "extensive drive testing across Australia to ensure
that all the necessary enhancements to the network are made by that
time".
Mike Wright, Executive Director for Wireless Engineering said
technicians had driven more than 33,000 kilometres since May to test
the network and monitoring would continue to identify areas that
require further fine-tuning.
Telstra is committed to switching off the ageing CDMA network on 28
January 2008, but is legislatively bound to maintain the same level of
service in rural and regional areas.
Telstra has also asked its customers to
help through the Black Spot Bright Spot program - where customers can
report their experiences with the Next G network, both good and bad,
for Telstra to follow up at www.telstra.com/coveragefeedback.
"While all of
Telstra's Next G devices have undergone rigorous testing and are
suitable for handheld use in areas with strong signal coverage it may
be important for customers using their device in some regional and
rural areas to maximise their coverage through accessories like
external antennas and car kits," Wright said.
100
times larger than any other Australian 3G network, Next G covers more than
1.9 million square kilometres compared to the CDMA
network coverage footprint of 1.6 million square kilometres.
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