3 turns on Telstra 3G roaming

By Joseph Hanlon on 15 April 2009

3 Mobile customers will enjoy expanded access to 3G network services, provided they own a compatible handset.

3 coverage in Brisbane: 3G roaming zone in lilac.
Click to enlarge
(Credit: 3 Mobile)

The company announced today the fruition of its expanded agreement with Telstra to give customers access to 3G roaming on Telstra's Next G network. This new agreement sees 3's 3G network covering 96 per cent of Australia, inclusive of roaming areas, increasing its coverage of Australia by 40 per cent and reaching more rural locations.

Customers looking to take advantage of the new 3G roaming zone will need a handset compatible with both the 2100MHz frequency used by 3 and the 850MHz frequency used by Telstra's Next G network. Only a selection of handsets sold by 3 feature compatibility for both frequencies, including Nokia's E71 and the BlackBerry Bold.

Prices for data in roaming zones has dropped to 50¢/MB for customers who choose a post-paid X-Series data pack. This price is significantly cheaper than the AU$2/MB charged when on a pay-as-you-go data plan; however, the 50¢/MB charge is on top of the monthly cost of an X-Series plan.

A coverage map displaying 3 Mobile's existing Broadband zone and the new 3G Roaming zone is available from the company's website.

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Topics: 3, broadband, data, mobile phone, next g, telstra

Comments (6)

chris commented on 17/04/2009 09:12

Anthony404, I agree with bec - do your research.

This deal will still be running after Voda and Three merge, it will not cease to exist. Firstly, how are they sh*t? I have had no problems so far - maybe your phone use ability and understanding is equivalent to your spelling... sh*t.

(If you haven't figured it out yet... in lighten isn't spelt like that, rather it is ONE word that starts with an E: enlighten.)
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Anthony404 commented on 17/04/2009 03:28

BEC-EXPLAIN WITHOUT BEING RUDE in lighten me ?????
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bec commented on 16/04/2009 15:38

Anthony404 - do some research before commenting.
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Sam commented on 16/04/2009 09:17

I am with 3 and I am lucky to live and work in an area that has pretty good 3 coverage.

My major concern with this announcement is that it is a new possible source of "bill shock" which is something I really hate.

I strongly hope that it is very obvious on my handset (E71) whether or not I am roaming on NextG. At 50c/Mb, using 3G while roaming would have to be for emergency use only.
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Anthony404 commented on 16/04/2009 01:24

UMMMM!!!! Stupid 3 these guys are not getting anything right if Vodafone just bought 3 why wouldn't they wait till vodafone rolls out its 3g in the bush and use vodafone 3g in the city cause i have 3 prepaid broadband and my bro has 3 and MAN 3=S@!T 3g they should be striped of the name 3 because they do nothing to help 3G
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Nate commented on 15/04/2009 18:51

Not all Nokia E71's will be able to roam onto Telstra's Next G Network. My E71 (supplied by 3 last year) is an E71-1 which operates in the 900&2100Mhz bands for 3G.

You will only be able to roam onto Next G if you have the E71-3 which supports 850&2100Mhz.

The good news is that if you have an iPhone on 3, you should be able to roam as the iPhone supports Next G's 850Mhz network also.
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