Telstra clocks up 3.2m 4G devices

As Telstra marks the two-year anniversary of the launch of its 4G network, the company is edging closer to getting its 4G network out to 85 percent of the Australian population.

The company announced on Monday that between the end of June and now, the company has added over 400,000 new 4G devices to its network, bringing the total up to 3.2 million on the Telstra 4G network. The vast majority of the sales were for smartphones, with Telstra stating that 360,000 4G smartphones have been sold since June 30.

The company has not broken down those figures further into the brands of devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One, or the new iPhones 5c and 5s, but Telstra's group executive director for mobile and wireline Warwick Bray said it has added 15 new 4G devices to its portfolio since January.

On the network side, Telstra's networks executive director Mike Wright said Telstra has just switched on its 2,500th 4G base station.

"We currently have more than 100 construction teams across the country building out our 4G network at a rate of up to 100 new sites per week," he said in a statement.

"We will switch on another 1,000 4G base stations by Christmas 2013, which will take 4G to 85 percent of the population, including 300 regional towns and holiday hotspots."

It comes as Telstra is facing significant competition in the 4G area from Optus and Vodafone. Optus has a multiband 4G network in its arsenal to improve 4G coverage in high-density areas, while Vodafone boasts that it has the fastest 4G speeds across Australia's five largest capital cities.

Access to Telstra's network still remains more expensive than the other two mobile carriers, but Wright said that the company boasts superior coverage.

"Our superior coverage means that our customers can make calls and get online in more places, and their calls will be more reliable on the train, on the way to work, or when they walk to the back of their house. Our customers will also experience a more reliable speed experience when they use our data services," he said.

"As our mobile devices become more important in our everyday lives, we need a mobile network we can trust. Our customers are telling us that it is the network that matters. There is no such thing as the right plan if you are on the wrong network."