What price to convert CDMA phones to 3G

Telstra's 3G network is up and running - but not in our rural areas for another year. So the wait for wireless broadband continues.

Those who can access the 3G network will be paying between $50 and $200 a month for the privilege of a wireless broadband service that is slower than ADSL. Telstra's 3G service will operate between 200kbps and 300 kbps in capital cities (except Darwin and Hobart) in addition to the Gold Coast.

3G services outside these areas will be delivered on the company's existing -- but slower -- GSM network, which does not support video-based services. 3G just does not yet exist for CDMA customers

Yet this new 3G technology is set to eventually replace our CDMA mobile phones but at what price? It is hardly likely that we will be charged CDMA rates with all the extras not currently available such as video phone and broadband access.

The federal communications minister has reassured rural Australia her department plans to work with Telstra and the communications regulator to ensure the bush won't be disadvantaged as the telco dumps its existing CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network in favour of the new national third-generation (3G) mobile offering.

"The government is committed to working with both the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Telstra to ensure a smooth transition from CDMA to 3G," Senator Helen Coonan said in a statement this morning.

"While Telstra is bound by licence conditions and current contractual arrangements to provide a digital mobile network in regional Australia, the working group will ensure a cooperative and coordinated approach to replicating the coverage of the existing CDMA network," Coonan said.