There are three major carriers in Australia – Telstra, Optus and Vodafone/Hutchison Australia – and they operate on a variety of 2G and 3G networks. So you may choose the right handset for your network (or the right network for your handset), here are the details of the mobile networks operating in Australia.

We’ve included links to carriers’ coverage maps where available.

Telstra

  • 2G: 900/1800
  • 3G: 850 (Next G network) / 2100 (3GIS network; to be phased out)
  • Coverage maps

Optus

  • 2G: 900/1800
  • 3G: 900 (Yes G Open Network, primarily non-metro areas) / 2100 (primarily metro areas)
  • Coverage maps

Vodafone

  • 2G: 900/1800
  • 3G: 900 (only in some regional areas) / 2100 (primarily metro areas)
  • Note, Vodafone are rolling out some 850 MHz coverage in some metro areas
  • Coverage maps

VHA (also known as 3)

  • 2G: Not operated. They share airtime with Vodafone and Telstra for 2G.
  • 3G: 850 (Roaming on Next G network in some areas) / 2100 (3GIS network; future uncertain)
  • At the time of writing, we are unsure whether 3 customers can access Vodafone’s 900 MHz 3G network
  • Coverage maps