Telstra will be offering two 5G devices from next week – the HTC 5G Hub and the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G but just how extensive is its 5G network and is it already available where you live.
Telstra will become the first company to offer 5G devices on its network and has made good on its promise to have these available to customers in the first half of 2019.
The HTC 5G Hub is the world’s first 5G/4GX media hotspot which can function as both a secure mobile solution or as a family entertainment hub which takes advantage of 5G speeds to stream 4K content and games to your TV.
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G has a 6.7-inch Infinity-O display, and a six camera system (two on the front and four on the back) which will allow users to capture stunning images and videos. It also has a 4,500mAh battery which also has Super Fast charging capabilities.
Telstra has released coverage maps showing where 5G will be available by June 30.
Telstra says its current 5G footprint at this point is smaller and sits inside these planned coverage areas.
At this time, most of the Telstra 5G coverage is in major capital cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart – and their CBDs and airports.
Other areas where 5G will be available will include Canberra, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Launceston.
Telstra’s maps show both 4G and 5G coverage with 4G displayed in green and 5G in purple.
5G will be a game changer for mobile and home broadband customers with the main benefits being faster speeds, greater capacity and lower latency.
When it comes to speed, 5G is theoretically capable of achieving up to 2Gbps – that’s 20 times the current top speed of the NBN.
This will come in handy as customers stream and download content and access information from the internet on their mobile devices and at home.
Another great benefit is the increased capacity of 5G which means it can handle a lot more users in the same location.
If you’ve ever been to the Grand Final or a State of Origin match you’ve probably found it difficult to send a message or access the internet because of the sheer number of people accessing the nearby cell towers.
This won’t be an issue with 5G. Imagine a faster and larger pipe to allow more simultaneous connections through each cell tower.
Another big benefit of 5G is low latency which means virtually no delay between issuing a command at one end and receiving it at the other whether it’s someone playing a game or a doctor performing surgery from the other side of the world.
5G offers latency as low as 1ms compared to more than 20ms on 4G.
It’s also possible to allow up to 100 times more connected devices per unit area to 5G than compared to 4G LTE.
It is this connectivity that will power smart devices in homes, cities and remote properties as well as being able to link industrial machinery, healthcare monitoring services along with driverless cars drones and robots.
The HTC 5G Hub and the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G will both be available for Telstra customers on May 28.
