Telstra, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), Qualcomm Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, and NETGEAR announce the world’s first commercial Gigabit LTE network and device. Telstra confirmed at the “Gigabit LTE Experience” event in Sydney today that their Gigabit LTE service has launched in select state capital city CBDs, with more to follow.

The Gigabit LTE NETGEAR device, Nighthawk M1, will first be made available to consumers in Australia in late February, 2017. The newly-launched Gigabit LTE service will deliver extremely fast access to consumers’ favorite content, and even faster access to enterprise applications and business-critical data. Gigabit performance will improve access to high-quality video streaming, and facilitate emerging mobile virtual reality applications and experiences, and is a key step towards 5G.

In addition to Gigabit LTE speeds on the downlink, Telstra’s new network capability also delivers up to double the previous uplink speeds, meaning uploading content to social media, the cloud or business applications will be much faster. Telstra was the first globally to launch 600Mbps download speeds (Sept 2015) and now further extends this global network leadership with Gigabit LTE. Gigabit LTE is enabled by LTE Advanced features including 4x4 MIMO, 3CA (Three Carrier Aggregation) and higher order modulation (256QAM). On the uplink, Telstra’s new network capability uses 64QAM and 2CA (Two Carrier Aggregation) for a peak upload speed of up to 150Mbps. These new features and capabilities are all important steps as Telstra evolves its network towards 5G. Gigabit LTE is not only about high peak speeds but also delivers more network capacity which benefits all users. A Gigabit LTE mobile device gets the job done faster with the ability to allow more network resources to be available for other users. In addition, the utilization of 4x4 MIMO within the new NETGEAR Nighthawk M1 Mobile Router (MR1100) Gigabit device, equipped with the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X16 LTE modem, allows 4-way receive diversity. The 4-way receive diversity capability works to support improved data throughput throughout all areas of the LTE network including both the Gigabit enabled areas and as well as the other remaining LTE network areas.

Mike Wright, Group Managing Director, Networks, Telstra says: “As the roll out of Gigabit LTE continues, our customers with a Gigabit capable device can enjoy a faster mobile experience for both downloads and uploads. As our customers continue to use increasing amounts of data for entertainment and business use, Telstra’s continuous innovation ensures our network is ready to deliver the country’s best mobile experience. “Gigabit LTE is also an important step on our journey to 5G and demonstrates Telstra’s commitment to delivering Australians a world class network now and into the future. We are well placed to evolve our 4G network and are putting the building blocks in place for Australia to be ready for 5G – this will deliver more bandwidth and lower latencies which are critical for emerging applications such as downloading 4K video, IoT, autonomous vehicles, augmented reality and shared virtual reality,” said Wright.

Per Narvinger, Vice President Network Systems, Ericsson says: “Once again we are pleased to partner with Telstra to deliver the world’s first commercial Gigabit LTE network which we see as an important step as Telstra continues toward 5G. Gigabit LTE provides end users with even faster mobile broadband speeds, further improving their mobile experience while supporting new emerging bandwidth intensive applications. It is exciting to deliver LTE advances that employ LTE carrier aggregation of 60MHz of spectrum with higher order MIMO, and advanced LTE modulation which are all necessary ingredients for Gigabit LTE.”

Mike Finley, senior vice president, president Qualcomm North America, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., says “We are proud to support the launch of the world’s first commercial Gigabit LTE product through our close workings with Telstra, NETGEAR and Ericsson. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE modem is the first commercial modem in the world to make these game-changing speeds and user experiences possible.”

Andrew Green, Vice President of Mobile Network Products, NETGEAR, says: “For the past 15 years, NETGEAR has delivered the most innovative mobile broadband products for Telstra subscribers. With their focus on innovation and customer experience, we are delighted that Telstra has again selected NETGEAR for the initial launch of our Nighthawk M1 Mobile Router. The new Nighthawk M1 takes advantage of the latest of LTE and Wi-Fi technologies on the Telstra 4GX network; enabling subscribers to enjoy the benefits of a secure network with the fastest download speeds.”

Ericsson is present today in all high-traffic LTE markets including US, Japan, and South Korea, and is ranked first for handling the most global LTE traffic. In addition, forty percent of the world's total mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. More than 270 LTE RAN and Evolved Packet Core networks have been delivered by Ericsson worldwide, of which over 200 are live commercially.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm's technologies powered the smartphone revolution and connected billions of people. We pioneered 3G and 4G – and now we are leading the way to 5G and a new era of intelligent, connected devices. Our products are revolutionizing industries, including automotive, computing, IoT, healthcare and data center, and are allowing millions of devices to connect with each other in ways never before imagined. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering, research and development functions, and all of our products and services businesses, including, our QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

About Ericsson

Ericsson is a world leader in communications technology and services with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Our organization consists of more than 111,000 experts who have provided customers in 180 countries with innovative solutions and services. Together we are building a more connected future where anyone and any industry is empowered to reach their full potential. Net sales in 2016 were SEK 222.6 billion (USD 24.5 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York. Read more on www.ericsson.com.