Telstra held off on the announcement of its speedier Next G Network until a week after the election campaign period. The company delayed its declaration due to fears that it may sway independent MPs who are deciding on who will govern Australia.

Telstra introduced a USB wireless modem capable of 42 megabits per second (Mbps) and typical user speeds that range between 1.1 and 20 Mbps in selected areas.

Previous modems had half the Internet peak speeds of new modems at 21 Mbps. The old units offered download speeds between 0.5 Mbps and 8 Mbps.

The competing parties pushed vastly different broadband policies during the election campaign and the independent MPs are indicating that the issue is crucial in the decision on who will form the government. Some may interpret Telstra's introduction of a faster Internet solution as support for the Coalition's policy, which claims that Labor's fibre-to-the-home proposal may be replaced by wireless networks that are already in place.

"We just didn't want to feel like we were influencing the [telecommunications] debate," Telstra spokesman said Craig Middleton, a spokesman from Telstra.

At launch, approximately half of the population will be covered by the dual-carrier technology. The solution allows networks to send and receive wireless data with the simultaneous use of two channels.

A report from ZDNet claims that the telecommunications company is opposed to having its new service seen as a substitute for the National Broadband Network.

The modems can be purchased outright for $299 by October 5. Business customers will be charged $69 monthly over two years with 6 gigabytes of included data allowance.