Telstra launches first Cat 11 LTE device and VoLTE

The Telstra WiFi 4GX Advanced III Mobile Broadband Hotspot uses 3-band carrier aggregation to deliver download speeds up to 600Mbps, and the Australian telco has also announced launched VoLTE on its network.

Telstra is clearly looking to establish itself as a mobile technology leader with this announcement, as well as the VoLTE introduction, having only announced the first Cat 9 devices a month ago. The race is on to progress through the stages of LTE-A as quickly as possible and Qualcomm especially is keen for its latest modem to be at the centre of the action.

“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 Telstra Executive Director, Mobile, John Chambers.

“When you combine the power of Qualcomm Technologies’ Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 LTE modem with Qualcomm VIVE 11ac, Ericsson’s LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation technology on Telstra’s network, and the NETGEAR AirCard 810S, it really is an unbeatable technology that we are pleased to offer our customers before anyone else in the world.”

The launch of VoLTE on Telstra’s network has been strangely understated, apparently slipped in as an afterthought in the Cat 11 announcement. In a blog post Telstra network boss Mike Wright said “Starting today, we will be progressively enabling the new 4G Calling capability, Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for Telstra Mobile Post-Paid consumer customers with a compatible mobile handset to use 4G Calling.

“This is seriously exciting because it’s only the beginning. We can now link the future for voice to the world of multi-media which will enable new and interesting applications and call flexibility, including a path to native voice calling over WiFi (VoWiFi)  allowing a seamless handset experience, video calling over LTE (ViLTE) and even higher definition audio.”

Telstra’s big unveiling coincides with the announcement by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) that applications are open for its November 2015 1800 MHz spectrum auction. The specific ranges on offer are 1725-1785 MHz and 1820–1880 MHz, which will be divided into 147 lots.

“Spectrum is a finite natural resource,” said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman. “When demand exceeds supply for spectrum in a band, the ACMA commonly allocates spectrum by auction. This provides a transparent process to establish a market price, ensuring licences are allocated to those who value them most highly.

“The ACMA considers that the price paid by bidders at an auction should provide a reasonably accurate indication of the true market value of the spectrum and identify the highest value use of the band.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ytDDcT0wE

Explore the latest developments in VoLTE at the LTE Voice Summit on September 28-30 in London