4G For Optus – What Does It Mean For You?

This. From our friends at Bit.

Optus has announced it has switched on its 4G Plus network in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. So what does that mean for you?

4G Plus is Optus’ spin on 4G TD-LTE network technology, which is something that you will soon see other phone networks such as Telstra and Vodafone also offer sometime in the future. The technology is designed to ease the data congestion particularly during peak mobile internet traffic times. As Optus describes 4G Plus as adding “more lanes to the Optus 4G super highway, letting more people use our 4G network at the same time”. On theory, improved speeds on a more consistent basis.

So what do you need to take advantage of it?

Since 4G Plus/TD-LTE operates on a different spectrum (2300 Mhz), you will need to purchase a 4G Plus compatible phone to be able to actually use the network. The same goes for mobile broadband dongles and Wi-Fi modems.

Optus says that they have phones from Samsung (Galaxy S4 mini, new version of Galaxy S4), LG (G2 available in November) and Apple (iPhone 5s and 5c) that will be 4G Plus compatible.

The phones will fall back to the regular Optus 3G network when you step outside of 4G Plus or regular 4G zones.

In theory, regular 4G users who don’t own a 4G Plus handset should also eventually experience more consistent speeds at peak periods on the Optus network as more people jump to 4G Plus.

What do you think? It’s a can of worms!

Are you happy on 3G? Is 4G still not enough for you? And do you agree that more competition in the telecommunications industry would be a good thing for consumers?

Tell us in the comment space below.

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