According to a Whirlpool report, Telstra will offer reduced roaming fees to customers on the 3 network later this month, giving them access to the superior NextG network, which will greatly enhance the 3G experience to 3 customers.
It's a win-win scenario for 3 customers who used to be at the mercy of 3's weak signal broadband zone. 3 customers used to be charged a massive $1.65/MB (yes, per megabyte!), but that all looks to be changing, and it's expected that 3 will cut their rates by more than half to 50c/MB. Although that's still not cheap, considering 3's unusually good value plans which offer flat download caps.
The new "3G Roaming Zone" by 3 will offer two different plans at 50c/MB for customers on X-Series and mobile broadband plans.
Telstra boasts that its 850Mhz NextG network enables "coverage to 96% of the Australian population", although it's important to note that this much quoted figure is slightly misleading.
While Telstra might grant access to 96% of the population, there are still thousands of kilometres of Australian land that exist within sparsely unpopulated areas and it's in these areas that people will still have trouble gaining reception.
Postpaid casual users will be forced to pay $2/MB, making it difficult for causers users to get any use of the deal. 3's Planet 3 portal will also be available to NextG connected roamers.
Whirlpool reports that they expect the new roaming deal to come good by the middle of this month. We look forward to seeing more carriers utilise the enormous potential of Telstra's NextG network. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come.