Telstra has chosen Ericsson as its 5G network provider under an agreement that will see the two companies partner to deliver the next generation of mobile technology for Australia. The announcement marks the addition of live, 5G sites in the cities of Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.
The partnership agreement was announced at an event in Canberra marking the installation of Telstra’s 50th, live 5G site in Australia.
In Australia this week, Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, said: “Telstra and Ericsson have continued to demonstrate industry leadership through ongoing innovation and collaboration with best-in-class partners needed to build an end-to-end 5G ecosystem. Together we have put in place the fundamentals that will enable Telstra to succeed in 5G. Through our extensive collaborative efforts, we will ensure Australia is at the cutting edge of mobile technology.”
In the past 12 months, Telstra and Ericsson have jointly achieved a number of significant 5G milestones including the end-to-end, multi-vendor 5G data call using 3.5GHz spectrum (July 2018), the 5G data call over 26GHz mmWave spectrum (November 2017), the 5G-enabled WiFi precinct and 5G car on the road (March 2018) and the 5G mobile gaming demonstration in Australia (May 2018 ).
In August, Telstra announced it had started switching on 5G technology, making Australia’s largest and fastest mobile network the first in the country to be 5G-ready. 5G promises to deliver very high data speeds, extreme low latency, ultra-high reliability, energy efficiency and extreme device densities, which will be realized by the development of LTE in combination with new radio-access technologies.