Telstra just launched a mobile network 10 times faster than the NBN, by Tony Yoo.

Mobile internet has overtaken the NBN on peak speed, with Telstra today launching the world’s first Gigabit LTE network.

In a media demonstration in Sydney, a computer connected to Gigabit LTE was put through several tests on speedtest.net, connecting to a non-Telstra server. The peak speed reached 886Mbps – showing it was capable of downloading data up to 10 times faster than the maximum a home user can reach on the NBN.

There are currently 15 telecommunications operators in 11 countries planning or trialing Gigabit LTE, but Telstra is believed to be the first to go-live commercially with the technology. …

Ericsson ANZ chief executive Emilio Romeo said that data consumption through mobile had hit the roof in recent years and predicted that each smartphone would chew through 11GB per month by 2022, compared to 1.9GB now.

“Average time watching video on a smartphone has more than doubled since 2011,” he said. “75% of mobile data traffic will be from streaming video by 2022.” …

Gigabit LTE would first be rolled out to inner metropolitan areas, according to Telstra wireless engineering director Channa Seneviratne, with the network delivering 5 to 300Mbps to each device in realistic outside-the-lab conditions.

The NBN is Rudd’s socialist dinosaur. I remember warnings when the NBN was first proposed that by the time it got rolled out, increased mobile service would make it obsolete. Fiber? Copper? So expensive and soon to be eclipsed by 5G — which while pricey now, will soon become cheaper.

The NBN cost of $5,000 per household was simply unnecessary. It introduced mandatory expenditures through taxes and monopolies, enforced by the power of government. The voluntary transactions of the marketplace are morally superior and were always going to be cheaper and more effective — people are so much more careful when spending their own money, rather than letting Mr Rudd spend it for them. So it has proved to be.

hat-tip Matthew