Vodafone Hutchison Australia said it hit 67Mbps download speeds during tests of its upcoming 4G LTE network, but actual speeds may be lower at launch.
When the network launches later this year, Vodafone said actual download speeds will be between 2Mbps and 40Mbps. That is the same range as what Telstra and Optus estimate for their own 4G LTE networks.
Vodafone has been testing the 4G network in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for “the last few days,” it said. In tests, Vodafone reached speeds of 60-67Mbps download and 25-30Mbps upload.
Vodafone ran the tests with “category 3” (CAT3) 4G devices on 10MHz bandwith capacity using spectrum in the 1800MHz band. The telco plans to have 20MHz bandwidth at launch.
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“Once we add all the potential speed bumps outside of the testing environment, we will really be able to see the speeds which can be achieved,” Vodafone wrote on its blog.
“The types of things which can affect speeds are: congestion, user numbers, local conditions, hardware, software, download source and general internet traffic.”
Vodafone said the release of “category 4” (CAT4) LTE devices will get faster speeds on the network. A lab test of one such device had 150Mbps downloads, it said.
Telstra has said its own CAT4 devices achieved speeds of 90Mbps in live field trials in Perth and Esperance where it has 20MHz bandwidth.
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