Telstra launches super-fast 4G LTE mobile hotspot

Australian telecom company Telstra has announced world’s first 4G LTE Advanced Category 11 mobile hotspot device offering speeds up to 600 megabits per second in select regions in country. The device was developed in association with NETGEAR, Inc., Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

The Telstra Wi-Fi 4GX Advanced III Mobile Broadband Hotspot mobile device uses three-band carrier aggregation technology. This means customers will have considerably faster download speeds and more network capacity.

Each aggregated carrier is a component carrier that can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz. The fast mobile broadband device is an amalgamation of Qualcomm Snapdragon’s X12 LTE modem and Ericsson’s LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation technology on Telstra’s network.

“This is the world’s first commercially available Cat 11 experience and is a breakthrough addition to our mobile device range thanks to our ongoing partnerships with these leaders in innovation,” said John Chambers, Executive Director, Mobile, at Telstra, in a press note.

The new Telstra Wi-Fi 4GX Advanced III mobile hotspot will retail for $264 starting Sept.29. Telstra hasn’t yet announced the data packages for the new device.

The device will simultaneously support up to 15 Wi-Fi enabled devices. The hotspot automatically switches to 4G and 3G networks in those areas where 4GX isn’t available. In spite of continuous usage, the device has a battery life of 11 hours.

The device is currently available along the Eastern Seaboard, including cities like Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra and few popular holiday destinations. Telstra hopes to expand the service in newer locations with the growing demand.

Telstra representatives demonstrated the device with download speeds of about 500 mbps and upload speeds of 40 mbps, said The Sydney Morning Herald. According to a report on LTE Carrier Aggregation, the first commercial deployment took place in 2013 in South Korea with SK telecom. Optus was the first Australian mobile operator to deploy the technology on an LTE network in 2013.

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