According to sources at CES, Telstra has been pursuing handset manufacturers to deliver higher speed HSPA devices. With the industry starting to release LTE devices, Telstra has made it clear they want much faster NextG devices before any LTE trials take place. And we should see 14.4 from at least one maker in 2011.
Most handsets are still running around the 7.2Mb/s range, while NextG can push to a theoretical 42Mb/s. It makes sense Telstra would want devices that can use the headroom they’ve already got rather than have to build a new network to make new handsets available. But with LTE still in early days but starting to catch on elsewhere, manufacturers may find it more lucrative to service bigger markets with new next generation hardware.
Nathan Dunn, General Manager of Mobile for LG Electronics told Gizmodo Telstra is asking for high-speed HSPA+ phones, and that this is very much their priority before they intend to push into any live trials of LTE.
Dunn also suggested LG has a 14.4Mb/s device in their 2011 line up, and has something in the 24Mb/s ballpark further out in their roadmap.