After what appears to have been weeks of delays, it appears that information can now finally be confirmed on Telstra’s 4G Windows Phone launch of the HTC Titan II. Whilst the media this week has been focused on the local launch of Nokia’s flagship Lumia 900 and entry-level Lumia 610, the prior Telstra advertised ETA of “early May” has passed us all by with no news. Following a reader tip-off earlier today, WPDownUnder can now confirm the ETA retail supply dates and FIRM contract pricing for what will be Australia’s only 4G Windows Phone.

The latest inside information from Telstra suggests a schedule availability on contract in-store from the 29th May (a week later than our last ETA). Whilst some speculation attributed to Telstra sources has put this as late as June 12th, this may in-fact just be the normal 1-2 weeks for it to roll out to all stores and retail partners from launch. Selected stores apparently received Demo units up to a month ago – so whether there has been a supply issue from HTC or just a change in Telstra’s commercial release window, we shall never know. It is important to note that no public statement has been released by Telstra on launch dates, except for their advert above. Given this stated “Early May” – my bet is they will want to at least go public this month (and offer online sales from the 29th).

As to pricing, the following is what we have had unofficial confirmation of (we are 100% confident on this info based on documents we have sighted being accurate at time of viewing). Details were: “HTC Titan 4G introduced at $20/month on the $49 plan, $10/month on the $59 plan & $0 on the $79, $99 & $129 plans” – WPDownUnder has represented this below on the standard Telstra contract plans (our mockup):

HTC TITAN 4G TELSTRA PLANS – based off insider tip-off. 

Whilst outright pricing wasn’t available, WPDownUnder anticipates that this will land around the higher-end of our earlier prediction range of $750-$850. Being 4G – with Telstra literally streets ahead in their capital city coverage in this new network over their rivals - we anticipate that there will be little price pressure on outright pricing (contrast for instance the Lumia 800). With this sort of value on the hardware, a plan may well deliver the best outcome for subsidising the handset cost. As an interesting side note, at the same time that Telstra release this new 4G unit, WPDownUnder also believes the Samsung Galaxy SII 4G will drop back from the same $59 + $10 MRO handset payment to just the $59 base plan.

With many Windows Phone Aussie enthusiasts disappointed over Telstra’s decision not to range the Lumia 900 at launch in Australia (Optus have it exclusively as we predicted) – then on contract pricing is your only HSPA+/4G option in Australia for the Titan 4G. The Titan 4G will work theoretically at HSPA+ connections outside 4G coverage, similar to the Lumia 900, but is likely to be 850Mhz only for WCDMA 3G/HSPA+ – ruling out high-speed/3G use on Optus or Virgin, whereas the Lumia 900 will be tri-band WCDMA 3G – and if brought over to Telstra on a BYO plan should also be theoretically capable of HSPA+ with them.

Is the HTC Titan 4G enough to sign you up to Windows Phone? Will you upgrade for the bigger screen, bigger camera etc? Let us know what you think Thanks again to our readers for the insightful and appreciated tip-offs!

Sheeds.

PS – Here’s a video comparison of the (US) HTC Titan II 4G and the Lumia 900 (US 4G vs AU HSPA+) from our friends over at wpcentral!