Telstra has launched a new signal-sensitive mobile phone, specifically for use in country areas on the Next G network.
Telstra Country Wide Group Managing Director, Mr Geoff Booth had this to say on the announcement: "The Country Phone is the first Next G handset with a pullout antenna and it's built to meet the demands of Australia's tough outdoor conditions. The handset's bigger design incorporates a large, easy to use key pad to accommodate even the biggest of fingers and the phone is protected in rubber casing, is dust proof, shock and liquid resistant," he said.
Telstra has created a new “Blue Tick” brand to identify phones recommended for rural or remote area use. The 165 Country Phone has a blue tick and the Nokia N95 will also be available on Next G under the same blue tick program from mid-November 2007.
These new models are especially relevant considering Telstra's plans to imminently
shut down the CDMA network in Australia. All users on Telstra CDMA phones will likely have to move onto Telstra Next G handsets.
The Telstra 165 Country Phone is a ruggedised model with extensible antenna, large chunky buttons and a sizeable casing. The Telstra 165 Country Phone manufacturer is a Chinese company called ZTE Corporation.
Telstra 165 Country PhoneSpecifications: 117mm x 15mm x 16mm; tri-band radio; HSDPA support; claimed 250 hours standby time; 2 Megapixel camera; videoconferencing; Bluetooth support; 60MB capacity; Extensible antenna; MicroSD slot; protective rubber casing; dust proof; shock & water resistant; Access to mobile BigPond content such as BigPond TV, 33 Mobile FOXTEL channels, Sensis search services and news and weather; 105g.
Price: $529 (RRP, off-plan)
