Australian operator Telstra is upgrading its HSPA+ network in an attempt to double existing average download speeds. In a company blog posting, Michael Rocca, group managing director of Telstra Networks and Services, noted that the operator “has become the first operator in the world to test HSPA+ Dual Carrier technology outside of vendor laboratories.” Telstra has been testing the software upgrade on a closed portion of its Next G network, using equipment from Ericsson and Qualcomm’s MDM8220 chipset. It says it is “on track to deploy software capable of supporting HSPA+ Dual Carrier technology in the Next G network by the end of the year,” and customers will be able to benefit from the faster technology once devices are available from Sierra Wireless next year. Of course, although Telstra highlights a theoretical peak download speed of 42 Mb/s, real-life results will be much lower and Rocca’s blog noted that “in real world conditions actual customer download speeds will always be less than 42 Mb/s.” Rocca is confident though that commercial speeds “around double that of today’s typical user experience using a HSPA+ device” will be enabled “in selected areas” once the technology and compatible devices are commercially available.

Telstra has led the way in deployment of HSPA technology, first launching its Next G network in October 2006 with initial theoretical peak download speeds of 3.6 Mb/s, followed by upgrades to 14.4 Mb/s and 21 Mb/s (HSPA+, launched earlier this year). In February then-CEO, Sol Trujillo, promised an upgrade to 42 Mb/s by the end of this year. It’s been a week of technology firsts, with European operator TeliaSonera switching on a commercial LTE network in Norway and Sweden on Monday.