Melbourne’s The Age newspaper has confirmed this week that Telstra will be offering the HTC Velocity by the end of this month. The 4.5” (11.5cm) Android phone is the first to be offered by a carrier that can take advantage of the 4G mobile broadband standard, also sometimes referred to as LTE (Long Term Evolution). Telstra is the first network in Australia to have an active, working 4G network.

Good phone, but better offerings on their way

The Velocity is a pretty serious offering, with dual-core processing and an 8mp camera, capable of full HD recording at normal and slo-mo speeds. The phone comes with 16GB of storage and a micro-SD slot to add more, and a removal battery. Alas, the phone will only run Android 2.3 for now, but has the specs to suggest an update to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) won’t be too long in waiting.

With the release of several big 4G capable phones at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, expect the Velocity to be yesterday’s news before too long. Samsung is very excited about the Galaxy Note, a massive 5.3” (13.5cm) screened phone, with a smart stylus, that falls somewhere between a tablet and a mobile. The Note boasts meatier specs than the Velocity, and offers something truly different. No release date yet, but Australia has always been a hungry market for the latest and greatest from Samsung, so expect it soon.

4G vs 3G

Telstra’s 4G network boasts speeds from 2Mbps up to 40Mbps in real world tests in major cities. Telstra currently uses its 4G network to provide Mobile Broadband with the use of a USB modem, for laptops and PCs. Pricing plans for mobile phones using the 4G network should be made available in the next 2 weeks.

This compares to average 3G speeds of 1Mbps and top speeds of 20Mbps in major cities. Telstra’s 3G network is available for a wide range of phones on Freedom Connect plans starting from $49.95/month, with $550 credit for calls, unlimited text and 1.5GB of data.