Telstra to launch 5G network tests

WAITING for that video to load on your phone may soon be a thing of the past, with Telstra announcing that it will increase download speeds in the near future.

Tennis mobile phone for opinion piece on live betting on smart phones. istock

AUSTRALIA’S Commonwealth Games will not just be a speed test for athletes but for smartphones, as Telstra today revealed it would use the Gold Coast 2018 Games to test its next-generation 5G network.

The new network could offer speeds as high as 20 gigabits per second, theoretically able to deliver three series of Games of Thrones in less than one second.

The country’s biggest telecommunications carrier revealed its 5G plans before Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, also revealing plans to launch a high-speed mobile modem this year.

Telstra networks group managing director Mike Wright said the telco aimed to deliver its 5G network by 2020, and the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games had been chosen as “a great way to focus energy” on delivering a significantly faster mobile network with partner Ericsson.

The trials may not necessarily involve finished smartphones, however, as manufacturers might not yet be ready for the technology.

High speed ... Telstra has revealed it will test its 5G network at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. istock

“With 2018, it’s a bit early to say precisely (what the tests will involve),” Mr Wright said. “We expect to have some early prototypes of the radio hardware. We probably won’t have production handsets, we’ll be using some test silicon.”

To deliver 5G, Telstra revealed it would send some of its engineers to Sweden on secondment with Ericsson to work on mathematical modelling behind the 5G network standard to make the speed boost possible.

Mr Wright said Australia had a particular interest in ensuring the 5G network could travel distances easily, so it could service regional towns as well as metropolitan centres.

“We would like to contribute back into the standard so we have the Australian distances and densities built into the next generation of technology,” he said. “I can say from my history, when 2G first came, it was news to us that it could only travel 35km. We were the world’s first to break that with 2G.”

Field testing in Australia is due to commence later this year.

Telstra also revealed it would rollout one gigabit per second upgrades to parts of its 4G network in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane this year, and launch a “puck”-shaped mobile modem from Netgear to make use of the speed boost.

Telstra devices director Andy Volard said the device would be the first Category 16 4G device to launch worldwide and would deliver a significantly better mobile video experience with “less buffering and streaming on the go” and the ability to connect up to 20 devices to the internet at once.

Connected ... The new high speed network will make watching TV and movies online much easier. Picture: iStock

“The product is first and foremost a (mobile internet) hotspot. But we’re re-envisioning what a hotspot is. It’s really going to be a mobile router.”

The company will also launch a Voice over Wi-Fi service this year as a solution to coverage blackspots within the home, and Video over LTE in the second half of the year, which will deliver video calls over 4G straight from a phone’s menu.

But Telstra will face network competition within Australia.

It’s 5G announcement comes just days after Optus revealed its live trial of a 4.5G network with Huawei in Newcastle reached download speeds between 1.23 and 1.41 gigabits per second.

Optus Networks acting managing director Dennis Wong said the test was in preparation for its future 5G network.

“By 2020, 5G will be here and we are committed to identify ways to prepare our network to support this technology and improve customer experience,” Mr Wong said.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Samsung.