Huawei and Telstra to bring worlds first LTE Category 6 device to Australia
Device launch follows world-first LTE Category 6 Carrier Aggregation live trials
Barcelona, Spain, 25 February 2013: Huawei and Telstra are set to launch the world’s first LTE Category 6-compatible mobile broadband device in Australia, following world-first live network tests of LTE Category 6 Carrier Aggregation in the 700MHz/1800MHz bands in Australia. The device was announced by Huawei at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and will be available in Australia in the coming months.
The Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced Pro X is a battery-powered mobile hotspot that can operate continuously for up to ten hours and share a 4G connection with up to ten devices making it possible to enjoy the performance benefits of 4G on existing Wi-Fi enabled tablets, laptops and smartphones.
Andrew Volard, Telstra’s Director of Devices, said Telstra was working to get 700MHz-compatible devices into customers’ hands ahead of the introduction of high-speed 700MHz coverage in early 2015.
“The investment in 700MHz coverage for 4G services is all about delivering more of what we know customers already love about our being connected to our network: better coverage, reliability and speed,” Mr Volard said.
“The Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced Pro X will be one of our first devices that’s ready to take advantage of the superior reach and speeds that we’re aiming to deliver when we introduce 700MHz spectrum and team it with our existing 4G spectrum.”
Significantly, the Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced Pro X comes with LTE Category 6 Carrier Aggregation technology built in. This standard allows for a significant increase in peak downlink speeds and capacity by bringing together two separate spectrum bands. Operating in this mode on a compatible network it is capable of supporting theoretical maximum peak downlink speeds of 300Mbps (actual download speeds will be slower and will vary depending on a number of factors, including network conditions).
From launch it will operate on Telstra’s existing 1800MHz 4G spectrum, which offers four times the 4G coverage area of any other network.
“Huawei is the world’s largest mobile broadband device vendor, and the Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced Pro X powered by Huawei’s in-house chipset is the pinnacle of Huawei’s technological leadership in LTE devices,” said Huawei Australia CTO Peter Rossi. “LTE Category 6 with Carrier Aggregation has the potential to offer incredible download speeds to mobile broadband users, and the huge battery in the Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced Pro X will allow users to keep more of their WiFi devices connected for longer.”
With a sleek curved design, the Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced Pro X is slim, compact and perfectly balanced. Its intuitive design features ‘press and play’ functionality and a transparent display gives users a quick view of network usage data and battery life.
It features ‘reverse charging’, allowing customers to charge their smartphones from the device’s large battery.
It also has a screen that displays usage notifications synchronised with Telstra’s billing system, making it easier for customers to keep an eye on how much data they’ve used against their allowance. The Telstra Wi-Fi 4G Advanced Pro X supports USB 3.0 for fast data transfer rates when plugged in to a compatible computer, and is ready to go at the touch of a button in as little as five seconds.