‘Supercharged’ 5G trial to begin as 700 suburbs will now have access to ultra-fast internet speeds - so is your street included?
- Telstra launches 'supercharged' 5G trial of evolutionary mmWave technology
- Offers download speeds three times faster than the speediest NBN connection
- Coincided with a major milestone in Telstra's fast-tracked 5G coverage roll-out
- 5G rolled out to eight million Australians in 47 cities and towns across the nation
A 'supercharged' 5G trial with internet download speeds of up to 3 gigabits - or 375 megabytes - a second is about to go public in Australia for the first time.
Telstra has launched public trials of its 5G evolutionary technology called mmWave or 'millimetre wave', which offers never before seen download speeds in Australia.
The 'supercharged' 5G network will reportedly offer download speeds which are three times faster than the best NBN connection.
Telstra users on the Gold Coast and Parramatta will be the first in Australia to test the new technology from Tuesday.
The launch coincides with a major milestone reached ahead of schedule in Telstra's fast-tracked 5G roll-out, which is now available in 47 cities and towns across Australia.
Telstra's Wi-Fi Pro device (pictured) users will be able to test the new mmWave 5G network
More than eight million Australians in 700 suburbs now have 5G coverage in a technology roll-out fast-tracked due to the coronavirus crisis.
'A year ago, chief executive Andy Penn announced our target to hit 35 cities and it is incredibly exciting to announce that we were not only able to hit this but also ahead of schedule – this is a huge achievement,' Telstra network engineering executive Channa Seneviratne said.
'This year is all about 5G, so we are making sure we do everything we can to make sure as many Australians as possible have access to 5G as quickly as possible.'
The mmWave technology is earmarked for further expansion next year following a government spectrum auction.
'We want to get some more temporary licences from the government. We'd obviously love to get a site working in Melbourne,' Mr Seneviratne told News Corp.
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5G technology has been rolled out to 47 cities and towns across Australia so far. Pictured are telecommunications workers upgrading a mobile cell tower in Sydney
He was tight-lipped on how fast mmWave technology users will be able to download files or stream videos.
'We're not going to quote speeds at this stage,' he said.
'We'll start to see download speeds six to eight times the speed of 4G. The 5G network currently offers about twice the speed of 4G.'
The $599 5G Wi-Fi Pro mobile modem is Australia's first mobile broadband device that's mmWave ready for the next iteration of 5G due to rollout at scale in 2021.
'mmWave is going to be a big part of our 5G future and with the Telstra 5G Wi-Fi Pro we are offering customers a device that will be able to take advantage of the next iteration of 5G as soon as it arrives,' product and service design executive Andrew Stormont said.
A 'supercharged' 5G trial of mmWave technology will be launched in Australia on Tuesday
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