Optus has announced the official launch of its pilot stage of its time-division long-term evolution (TD LTE) network, with the trial launching in Canberra earlier today.

The new network is designed to complement the existing frequency division network (FD LTE), which 4G networks run on the 1800 MHz spectrum.

According to reports, the new TD-LTE network will run on the 2300 MHz spectrum, with uploading and downloading set to be run through the same piping network.

Optus’ vice-president of mobile Engineer, Andrew Smith, said the announcement would mean that Optus is the first carrier in teh country to offer both types of 4G services concurrently.

“Our aim is to expand coverage for both types of 4G in the coming year to reach over 70 per cent of the metro population by mid-2014,” Mr Smith said.

“As part of our national roll out this coming year, many new mobile sites and upgrades across metro locations will have the combined 4G technologies of TD-LTE and FD-LTE, allowing customers with compatible devices access to Optus’ superfast 4G in more places.”