Telstra Australia makes the jump to GSM, kills off CDMA network!
Posted by Will on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 2:01 pm under Services, Announcements
Sure, CDMA networks are going to stick around for the next couple years, but in the long-term, CDMA’s prospects are bleak. All relevant 4G plans are starting to form around GSM technology like HSPA (HSDPA and HSUPA) and LTE (Long Term Evolution). So, it makes sense that proactive carriers are already planning for the future and jumping off the CDMA ship. As expected, Telstra is now preparing to take down their CDMA network for good - replacing it with their new GSM infrastructure.
Come midnight, Australians still hanging on to their CDMA handsets will no longer see a CDMA signal. Telstra is pushing the migration to GSM networks in order to push the carrier’s “Next G” UMTS/HSDPA network and accompanying data speeds.
The move also opens the door for the carrier to make good on speculation that the Apple iPhone will be coming to Australia via Telstra. The iPhone, and especially the 3G iPhone, requires a GSM network, so the move to GSM and 3G technology is a good sign for iPhone hopefuls in Australia.
[Via: PocketPCThoughts]
April 30th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
“Telstra makes the jump to GSM”
Rubbish. Telstra has had a GSM network since the very beginning of digital networks. CDMA was a conversion of the old analog hardware that they used beforehand. They still have a 3G/GSM network for all the handsets that don’t support Next G (eg, most of them)
The only difference is that they are switching a network off. Currently they have a GSM + UMTS + CDMA network, this is changing to a GSM + UMTS network.