Telstra unveiled plans to begin LTE trials in May. 
The Australian carrier will spend the next three to six months testing the feasibility and technical capability of LTE. Three vendors were named for the LTE trials: Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks. Ericsson has been the lead supplier of Telstra's Next G HSPA+ network.
In Hong Kong, Telstra's subsidiary company CSL is already testing LTE equipment from ZTE.
Telstra said its LTE tests will examine a variety of LTE's attributes including radio access characteristics, coverage, performance, signal propagation and various enhanced packet core features. In addition to lab evaluations, the trials will be conducted in both urban and rural areas.
"We're already achieving speeds and capacity that are among the best in the world and there's plenty left in the tank, so while LTE will be an important evolution for the Next G network, it won't be a revolution because HSPA+ is already setting the benchmark for our customers' experience," stated Michael Rocca, Telstra's Chief Operations Officer (Acting).
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- Telstra
has completed the upgrade of its "Next G" HSPA+ network with Dual Carrier technology, providing peak network downlink speeds of 42Mbps. Actual customer rates will be below the theoretical peak.
The first HSPA+ dual-carrier device will be a modem from Sierra Wireless. It goes on sale in Australia later this year and Telstra expects customers using the device will experience typical speeds in selected locations around double those seen currently with the fastest 3G devices on its network.
The upgrade of Telstra's network to HSPA+ Dual Carrier was achieved in conjunction with network partner Ericsson, with Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless joining the team to deliver a HSPA+ Dual Carrier chipset and device.
