Telstra slims down its USB wireless offering

[Update: Telstra has announced pre-paid wireless broadband, along with pre-paid from Virgin. We've covered the pricing and how the plans stack up here].

As wireless data prices have plummeted (well, unless you're Telstra), we've seen an influx of new wireless modems from each of the competing Telco companies, often with little more to differentiate them than the logo slapped on the side -- that's solidly the case with Optus, Vodafone and 3's latest USB modem/storage device, which shares the same internal hardware, but different logos on the outside.

And today, it would seem, it was Telstra's turn at the "USB modem with onboard MicroSD card slot" trough, as it's announced that the Turbo 7+ Series USB Modem will be available from the usual bevy of Telstra retailers from today.

Like the rest, it features an onboard microSD card slot (Telstra's bunging a 1GB card in there by default), and the promise of speeds of up to 7.2Mbps download and 1.9Mbps upload.

One area where Telstra's card may stand out from the pack is that the company states that the device will be upgradeable in order to take advantage of Telstra's planned speed boosts for its costly Next-G network.

If you want the card outright, it'll set you back $439, or on a range of plans from $149 on a $59 per month plan.