Telstra confirms 5G smartphones will be on sale by mid-2019
Telstra has announced that customers will be able to buy the first 5G smartphones by June after the network signed a deal with multiple manufacturers.
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Telstra has announced that customers will be able to buy the first 5G smartphones by June after the network signed a deal with multiple manufacturers.
However, the telco did not reveal which smartphone companies or the specifications of the devices.
Telstra chief executive Andy Penn told journalists at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this was “the year of 5G”.
“The 5G revolution is now very real. More than 200 Telstra 5G mobile base stations are now online across the nation and our customers will very soon be among the first in the world to experience the possibilities this revolutionary technology can deliver,” Mr Penn said. “Much faster downloads, high resolution video streaming with less buffering and mobile gaming on the go are just the start of what 5G is capable of delivering.”
Mr Penn would only say Telstra had reached deals with “more than one” smartphone company but that the smartphones will be available exclusively through Telstra before any other Australian mobile operator when they are released.
“These strategic relationships are now paying off directly for our customers, who will soon have exclusive access to 5G enabled devices on the nation’s largest and fastest mobile network and other devices will also soon hit our stores,” he said.
5G
Telstra acquired the 3.6GHz band at auction in December, although it only has early access to the band in Sydney and Melbourne.
Telstra has so far invested $8 billion over the past five years to prepare for the rollout of 5G.
This journalist attended the CES in Las Vegas courtesy of Samsung
Originally published as Telstra confirms 5G smartphones will be on sale by mid-2019
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