New developments in the industry show that there is much movement with regards to wireless technologies and networks. From U.S. President Obama’s talk about wireless, to Telstra in Australia expanding their UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA aka 3G networks to the latest 4G and LTE (Long Term Evolution) technologies, the landscape of wireless internet access is by no means a stagnant market.

Australia’s Exetel CEO John Linton now reveals that 35% of his customers use 5G or less per month and that their new 3G plans of $25 for 5G without a land line through Optus is now on par with many of it’s DSL offerings but are unique in that it is inherently portable. This means that for approximately the same price as a fixed line DSL connection, you can take your internet with you wherever you go and it will still seem like you are home.

Vividwireless, after operating for a time in and around Perth, are now trialling their LTE offerings in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Vividwireless were one of the few wireless providers to introduce and unlimited downloads plan last year.

Of course, many users will have to purchase or upgrade existing wireless modems, access stations and routers to take advantage of the difference frequencies that the various systems use. Current 2G and 3G use 850,900,1900 and 2100Mhz, but with the freeing up of existing frequencies from old analogue television, a whole lot more room is now at our disposal for more carefree and portable internet solutions.

Is the future of internet access all wireless or physical connection via fibre? Perhaps it is a mixture of both. One idea is to connect all the back-end infrastructure via cables and convert most areas into wifi hotspots, therefore still providing convenient wireless access, at cheap bulk data prices via fibre/xDSL.

Whatever the answer is, one thing is sure; we as consumers win this challenge for finding the best internet access.