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All about 3G and mobile coverage in Australia

This is a great post about what’s what in Australia. In summary:

GSM 900/1800 = Standard for Optus, Vodafone and Telstra
But if you are on 3 you should roam onto Telstra GSM, but note in places like Tasmania, this doesn’t work so you’ll have no coverage.
3G on UMTS 2100: Telstra 3G, Optus 3G, Vodafone 3G, Three (3)
3G on UMTS 900: Optus yesG and Vodafone
3G on UMTS 850: Telstra NextG

Important points:
– iPhone does not have UMTS 900 so you wont get 3G in places like Tasmania
– 3G phones like Google’s Nexus One doesn’t have UMTS 850, so you won’t get 3G at all
– Handsets like SE K610i on Three (3) with only UMTS 2100 won’t roam onto GSM in Tasmania, and if on Optus, won’t get any coverage except for big cities where there is 2100 coverage.