Telstra names the date for 80Mbit/s broadband
Dan Warne03 June 2007, 11:54 AM
According to BigPond Chief Justin Milne, 80Mbit/s broadband is just around the corner, and he's made a video presentation telling staff when it will be available.
 Justin Milne: the BigPond chief has named the date for 80Mbit/s wireless broadband |
According to BigPond Chief Justin Milne, 80Mbit/s wireless broadband over the Telstra Next G mobile network is just around the corner. He's even prepared to say when it will be available to customers.
Milne said Telstra will be offering 40Mbit/s wireless broadband next year, and 80Mbit/s two years after that.
The claim was made in a sales roadshow video for BigPond's sales staff, obtained by APC.
Milne encouraged Telstra sales staff to start talking to customers about the upcoming 80 megabit network speed.
"We launched with 3.6 megabits per second, we're now up to 7.2, we'll be 14.4 before you blink, next year up to 40, two years time after that up to 80, so this is really a paradigm shifter," Milne is shown saying.
"In a couple of years time, what you'll have is what is undreamed-of speeds, even on cable, but you'll have that wirelessly, and mobile - effectively wherever you are in Australia."
When asked again by the video's presenter, Toby Travanner, to restate how long it would take to achieve the 40 and 80 megabit speeds, Milne replied, "a couple ... three years before we get those 80 megabit speeds."
"In a couple of years, especially when you've got 80 megabits a second, we're going to be doing a whole bunch of stuff we haven't even thought of yet.
"Can salespeople start talking about the future like this?" asked the presenter. "Sure!" replied Milne.
Although the technology for 80Mbit/s broadband over wireless networks does not yet exist outside of research labs, Milne appears certain about the timeline for implementation on Telstra's Next G network.
There would be serious legal implications if Telstra salespeople sold BigPond Wireless on the basis that speed upgrades would be available in a certain timeframe and they did not eventuate.
Under fair trading legislation, BigPond Wireless customers could be entitled to refunds if they made purchasing decisions based on an assurances from salespeople about the product's future capabilities, but later found the goods were not fit for the purpose for which they were sold - such as accessing the internet at 80Mbit/s within three years.