Australians get modem-free 4G access

network mobile phone is available, delivering mobile Internet speeds up to 17 times faster, The Herald Sun reports.

However, industry experts tip a super-slow uptake for the super-fast Internet phones.

According to The Australian, while Telstra's 4G long term evolution (LTE) network has been up and running since September last year and is accessible with a 4G modem, the release of HTC's Velocity 4G Android smartphone means consumers can now use the network to speak and surf on the move.

Telstra's LTE network is capable of download speeds of 2Mbps to 40Mbps per second, and upload speeds of 1Mbps to 10Mbps.

“The HTC Velocity 4G delivers mobile Internet speeds unimaginable 10 years ago. The leap to 4G means customers in Telstra 4G coverage areas can load Web pages up to five times faster, video chat with fewer interruptions, and use more mobile Web services simultaneously,” iTWire quotes Ben Hodgson, country manager of HTC Australia and New Zealand, as saying.

“4G also opens the door to an exciting range of emerging smartphone applications such as cloud-hosted gaming and streaming music and video collections over the Internet”, he concludes.