Telco giant Vodafone to roll out 5G sites within weeks
The rollout of 5G networks is ramping up in Australia as telco giant Vodafone revealed sites with be switched on in just a few weeks time. Here’s where they are.
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More Australians will have access to 5G networks after one of the major telcos revealed they will switch on sites within weeks.
Vodafone Hutchison Australia – the nation’s third-largest telco – today announced they were pressing ahead with their 5G plans just weeks after they were given the green light to merge with TPG.
The company’s chief executive officer Inaki Berroeta said the company was only weeks away from flicking the switch on 5G sites.
And he confirmed it would be before the potential appeal of its merger with TPG by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The ACCC has until March 12 to lodge an appeal.
“We expect to start using 5G before the appeal period expires,” Mr Berroeta said.
“The rollout of the network will be a progressive rollout … that means our customers will be able to experience this service initially in a limited number of places where we are building the network.”
He said Vodafone commissioned around 650 5G locations.
“We will be informing our customers as we do the rollout where these 5G services will be available and by the later part of the year most of our customers will be able to experience in urban areas 5G service,” Mr Berroeta said.
He said the merger with TPG would help deliver 5G more quickly and give the company access to more spectrum.
The sites pinned for rollout of 5G sites include Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra and the Gold Coast.
Rival telcos Telstra and Optus have already started the rollout of 5G across Australia.
Telstra recently expanded its 5G rollout for 10 to 32 cities across Australia and said they are on track to extend 5G coverage into at least 35 Australian cities by the end of the financial year.
Telstra figures show more than 100,000 5G devices are now connected.
While rival Optus plans to have more than 1000 5G sites by March this year.
The rollout of 5G should deliver much-faster speeds than 4G and the National Broadband Network.
Typically NBN plans reach up to 80 to 90Mbps while at the highest end 5G is expected to hit 20GBps, which is more than 200 times faster than NBN operating at its best.
Telco comparison website WhistleOut’s spokesman Alex Choros said the 5G rollout would “increase competition between the major telcos and offer greater choice”.
“However, 5G is still very limited in terms of immediate impact, we’re not seeing any apps or services take advantage of the technology yet,” he said.
“5G will become a lot more exciting when there is consistent and reliable 5G coverage across the country, right now Australia’s 5G networks are in their infancy and a bit like Swiss cheese – they’re full of holes.”
Mr Choros said customers wanting to access 5G must have a 5G device and be in an area where there is 5G coverage.
“Given how limited 5G network coverage is currently the best use case for 5G right now is home internet, given that dwellings typically don’t move location,” he said.
Latest Vodafone Australia results showed their postpaid mobile customer numbers fell by 1.1 per cent year on year to 3.416 million customers.
Their prepaid customer base was 2.018 million, an increase of 8.6 per cent year on year.
The MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) customer numbers fell by 12.9 per cent to 310,000.
Vodafone’s MVNOs include Kogan and Lebara.
If no appeal is made by the ACCC to oppose the Vodafone and TPG merger it should be completed by mid-2020.
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The ACCC argued the merger would reduce competition as TPG could become the nation’s fourth mobile operator by building its own network.
TPG has previously moved to build a mobile network but dumped the venture after the government banned Huawei from supplying equipment in 5G networks.
TPG argued the ban on Huawei means to can no longer afford to build a competitive network.