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Telstra (News - Alert), Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company, can now enjoy the fact that it’s the operator with the largest HD voice network in the world, thanks to a software upgrade from Ericsson (News - Alert). The software upgrade from Ericsson allows people to access the new service on compatible HD voice handsets.

The strong partnership between Ericsson and Telstra has made it possible to create the largest HD voice network in the world, said Johan Wibergh (News - Alert), head of Business Unit Networks at Ericsson.

Telstra said that it offers the possibility to make and receive phone calls with superior sound quality across over 2.1 million square km of Australian landmass.

The company believes HD voice is an innovation for voice services similar to the shift from standard TV to HDTV, said Wibergh, adding that the marked difference in quality is a leap in voice services.

“Many recently released handset models have HD voice capabilities built in, such as recent models from the Sony Ericsson (News - Alert) Xperia family,” Wibergh said.

Mike Wright, director of Networks and Access Technologies at Telstra, said that they have launched many firsts in the Australian market, including HSPA+. Also, the company is the first Australian operator to commence deployment of LTE (News - Alert), the fourth generation of mobile communications technology.

"So not only do Telstra mobile customers have access to the largest and fastest national mobile network, they also have access to the latest voice technology. Telstra continues to provide leading edge services for our customers,” Wright said.

Additionally, Telstra said that the integration of Mobile SoftSwitch Solution (MSS) and WCDMA software was done without interruption to current services.

Last month, Telstra reached a $12 billion deal with the government to participate in the rollout of a fiber optic national broadband network that will be among the fastest in the world.