2020 hasn’t been the best year, but it has pushed ahead with something, as 5G arrives for more Aussies.
There’s good news if you’re thinking 2020 is the year you jump into the high-speed world of 5G, as one of the country’s largest mobile carriers announces that its rollout of the next generation of mobile connectivity is almost at 50 percent of the population. Almost, anyway.
Ahead of what’s expected to be a 5G iPhone announcement this week, Telstra has chimed in with news that 41 percent of where Australians live, work, or pass through have access to the 5G network, as the rollout continues.
It means places like the Gold Coast in Queensland where the 5G rollout started and Sydney, NSW where much of Australia’s biggest city has seen 5G aren’t the only places getting activity for the fast mobile connectivity, with as many as 383 suburbs in NSW, 272 in Victoria, 331 in Queensland, 239 in South Australia, 107 in Western Australia, 51 suburbs in Tasmania, and 80 in the nation’s capital, ACT.
Officially, Telstra has switched on its 2000th 5G site recently, as Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays goes 5G ready, joining Nowra, Orange, Innisfail, and Port Augusta, among the other rural locations getting 5G turned on.
Across Australia, Telstra says it’s improving the 5G connection inside, as well, bolstering support of in-building 5G coverage in shopping centres and malls across the country, as well, making it more likely a 5G phone will have the ability to latch onto a 5G network when you’re out and about.
“Our 5G now covers an area that more than twelve million Australians live, work or pass through on a daily basis, giving them access to a superfast network at a time when connectivity’s never been more important and when there’ll be more 5G devices to choose from than ever,” said Nikos Katinakis, Group Executive for Networks and IT at Telstra.
“We’ve recently announced our intention to roll out Telstra 5G to 75 per cent of the Australian population by the end of June 2021, which will expand our network to even more suburban and regional areas,” he said.
“We’ve made a commitment to roll out the new Telstra 5G network to more areas across metro, regional and rural Australia – and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
To get that access, you’ll still need a 5G phone or broadband device, but there are more of those rolling out, with plenty of Android phones out in the world, while Apple is expected to join the fray later this week.
