Telstra has informed stockholders during a recent meeting that it plans on having around 200 5G sites live by year’s end.

Andy Penn, CEO of Telstra, said during the meeting:

“In April, we trialled Australia’s first 5G connected car. We are also already rolling out 5G technology on our network and have more than 200 5G sites planned to be live around Australia by the end of this calendar year.”

When the sites go live, there will still be no 5G-capable flagships available from the most popular manufacturers. Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro, Apple’s latest iPhones, and Google’s new Pixel range all launched recently without support for 5G.

Penn comments:

“While commercial devices for 5G are not yet available, our 5G readiness program means we can trial and test them as soon as the manufacturers make them.

As I mentioned in my opening, it is not just 5G on its own, 5G is happening at a time many other technologies are arriving at scale.”

Telstra currently expects a full commercial deployment of 5G in the 2019-20 financial year when 5G smartphones become more widely available.

One of the other technologies ‘arriving at scale’ that Penn notes would be the Internet of Things.

In September, Telecoms reported that Telstra had partnered with Ericsson to set a record for NB-IoT range.

The record-setting network builds upon Telstra’s existing leadership in Australia in NB-IoT as the only provider in the country – and one of the first globally – to offer both NB-IoT and Cat M1 technologies.

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