In October, Qualcomm announced that it is partnering with Telstra, Ericsson and Netgear to roll out the world's first Gigabit LTE network in Australia. The network is now live in Sydney, making it the first city to have commercial Gigabit LTE service. For now, it requires the Netgear Nighthawk M1, a router that houses a Snapdragon X16 LTE modem and can connect up to 20 devices.

According to TechnoBuffalo, Telstra will sell the Netgear Nighthawk M1 for $360 AUD ($270 USD). The need for Gigabit speeds play an important role as the world consumes more high quality content, especially in videos that need high bandwidth.

Netgear will offer the Nighthawk M1 selectively through Telstra exclusive to Australia for now, although the device should be offered worldwide as soon as other carriers join the Gigabit LTE bandwagon. The company has demonstrated the new service, which saw consistent 900+Mbps average speeds, peaking at around 930Mbps.

To compare, the average 4G LTE can provide anywhere from 10 to 100Mbps, depending on one's location and carrier. Netgear offered a live stream demo of 4K, 360 degree video broadcast from the Sydney Opera House to test the Gigabit LTE on the Nighthawk M1, which according to witnesses (via Android Central) looked spectacular.

"We are proud to support the launch of the world's first commercial Gigabit LTE product through our close workings with Telstra, NETGEAR and Ericsson," said Qualcomm's President of North America Mike Finley. "The Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE modem is the first commercial modem in the world to make these game-changing speeds and user experiences possible."

The Nighthawk M1-powered network is now operational in central business districts of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, and will be distributed to more areas in mid-February. As for when other carriers will implement Gigabit LTE, Qualcomm said that it is testing the service in 11 countries to 15 different carriers.