Telstra just tested a 5G phone call – a big deal for them, but still a while off for you

So Telstra made a phone call – who cares? The future called – and it cares! Today, along with their network and innovation partners Ericsson and Intel, Telstra broke new ground.

They made the “first end-to-end 5G non-standalone (NSA) 3GPP data call on a commercial mobile network”. Gives you shivers doesn’t it?

The call was made at the Telstra 5G Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast, which essentially takes the process of testing out of the lab, and into the real world.

We say that because it used real-life spectrum (3.5GHz) along with Ericsson’s radios, a Telstra SIM card and an Intel 5G Mobile device.

They didn’t waste much time, the lab-based call was only made in Stockholm a matter of weeks ago, but things move faster with 5G right?

Outgoing head of Telstra Networks Mike Wright said “Demonstrating this 5G data call end-to-end using my own personal SIM card on Telstra’s mobile network is the closest any provider has come to making a ’true’ 5G call in the real world-environment, and marks another 5G first for Telstra. We continue to work with global technology companies Ericsson and Intel as well as global standards bodies to advance the deployment of commercial 5G capability in Australia.”

And he’s spot on – this doesn’t mean 5G is imminent, it just means the standards bodies, vendors and telcos are closer to finalising their plans for 5G.

Don’t be expecting any 5G consumer handsets until 2020 we reckon.