Challenge to Optus: put your network where your mouth is
Telstra Country Wide® Group Managing Director, Geoff Booth, said claims made by Optus yesterday that it only reached 85 per cent of the population with its 3G network showed just how far Optus had lets its investment in mobiles slip.
“Telstra built and switched on the Next G™ network in just ten months, providing voice and high speed wireless broadband services to 98 per cent of the population back in October 2006, and we hit 99 per cent population coverage earlier this year.
“Nearly two years later and the Optus’ 3G coverage footprint is still miniscule in comparison,” Geoff said.
Geoff said the numbers proved Optus was not close to going “head to head” with Telstra and in all likelihood never would be.
“When you add in its limited spectrum and transmission for 3G in regional Australia you start to see how Optus’ lack of investment in recent years has started to impact on the quality of service and the 3G experience it can offer to customers.
“And it’s ludicrous to suggest we don't monitor demand and population changes and make adjustments to our network to account for it – it's part and parcel of running a world class network.
“We suggest Optus considers putting its hand up for a thorough, independent audit of its coverage and coverage maps, much like the one our Next G™ network underwent ahead of the closure of the CDMA network, to see how its claims stack up against reality,” Geoff said.
Compare the numbers:
- Telstra covers 99 per cent of the population today, Optus claims to cover 85 per cent today and hopes to cover 98 per cent in 2009;
- Telstra covers more than two million square kilometres today; Optus covers a fraction of that today and hopes to reach HALF of the Next G™ network coverage at one million square kilometres in 2009, three years after the launch of the Next G™ network;
- Telstra provides peak network downlink speeds of 14.4Mbps and will commence upgrades to 21 Mbps by end 2008; Optus peaks at 3.6Mbps; and
- Telstra invested in coverage friendly 850 MHz spectrum which has enabled a single national wireless broadband network; Optus’ failure to match this investment has led to a patchwork 3G network built using coverage-unfriendly 2100 MHz spectrum and a limited block of 2G 900MHz spectrum it must now share for its 3G users.
In the media: