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Australian operator Telstra has partnered with Hutchison, allowing H3G to use it’s Next G network, in areas where the smaller company does not own a network. The deal comes at a good time for Hutch, who posted a half-year loss of $85 mn, but have strong revenue growth and customer acquisitions.
The new arrangement will allow Hutchison, which is growing faster than Optus and No3 mobile group Vodafone, to compete for customers in 96 per cent of the country by the second quarter of next year. Hutchison will also build its own network to another 4 per cent of the country, taking its coverage to 60 per cent of the Australian population.
It’s understood that there is a strategic element here, with Telstra freezing out Optus, in a deal worth more than $120 mn per year. Certainly the difference in coverage between the operators is closed right up now. The Next G network apparently can burst up to 14.4Mbps, and covers a 2 mn square km area.
[Via: theaustralian.news.com.au]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
