Telstra switched on over 200 5G sites since August 2018
Australia’s largest network operator Telstra launched its 5G service, as it switched on over 200 5G sites since August last year. These cover 10 cities including parts of Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Launceston, Toowoomba, and the Gold Coast. It intends to launch 5G in 25 more cities across the next 12 months, including all major regional cities in Australia.
Telstra’s first consumer ready 5G devices are the HTC 5G Hub hotspot and the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. These devices will be followed by the OPPO Reno 5G, which will be launch in June 11. 5G service will initially be available as a free trial but the company plans to charge an extra $15 per month for 5G connectivity after the trial and to introduce new mobile plans at end-June.
The operator acquired 3.6GHz spectrum for AUD 386 million (EUR 240 million), giving it 60MHz of contiguous 5G spectrum in all major capital cities and between 50MHz and 80MHz in regional areas.
