Australia now has a 5G mobile network

[Halcyon]

As of today (15/08/2018), the first lot of 5G towers have been enabled for public access. Recent tests compared the current 4G/LTE network to the new 5G network.

4G achieved downstream speeds of up to 700 Mbps with 5G topping out at 3 Gbps.

 

https://www.telstra.com.au/aboutus/media/media-releases/Telstra-turns-on-5G-on-the-Gold-Coast

[gnif]

Awesome! So we can hit the data limits on our plans even faster and get charged a fortune in excess usage fees.

The tech is interesting to me, but also useless, until they fix the price of data in AU it's ultimately useless to me.

[Halcyon]

Unless you want to pay for Telstra's $200/month unlimited plan. In any case, these faster speeds will help push data quotas up as people chew through their data within minutes.

[ConKbot]

Unless you want to pay for Telstra's $200/month unlimited plan. In any case, these faster speeds will help push data quotas up as people chew through their data within minutes.

I can see the headline now "thousands of people hit with $100k phone bills after malware spread through phones"

[Halcyon]

Unless you want to pay for Telstra's $200/month unlimited plan. In any case, these faster speeds will help push data quotas up as people chew through their data within minutes.

I can see the headline now "thousands of people hit with $100k phone bills after malware spread through phones"

Back in the day, carriers would waive excess data charges, at least on the first occurrence if it was due to a virus on your phone.

These days getting viruses on phones is a lot harder, it does happen, but there are a number of ways to counter it. Also all carriers here must notify you by SMS when you've exceeded 50%, 85% and 100% of your data allowance, so it basically puts the onus back on you to do something about it.

[metrologist]

How did they deploy infrastructure so quickly? I thought the offocial 5G standard was just determined a few months ago, in lieu of what Verizon had been developing?

[Halcyon]

How did they deploy infrastructure so quickly? I thought the offocial 5G standard was just determined a few months ago, in lieu of what Verizon had been developing?

I believe Telstra started 5G testing and trials back in 2016 in partnership with Ericsson, so I'm guessing the standards have been in play for a while (at least in draft form). Initially there was the ITU IMT-2020 standard then later came 3GPP. Modifying equipment to comply with the standards is probably just a software tweak.

Finland already had the worlds first 5G network back in June 2018.

[metrologist]

My understanding is that 5G is not just protocol and band allocation. There should be antenna arrays for beam forming and it is much more complicated.

by End of January (this is US focused):

Dismissing rivals who portrayed Verizon as focused on “fixed, pre-standards 5G” instead of mobile, globally standardized 5G, McAdam explained that the company would rather start building residential broadband, mobile, and IoT infrastructure now than wait until the entire 5G standard is finished. Consequently, Verizon will rely on a “proprietary” version of 5G at first, then follow the global 5G standard “very, very quickly in ’18.”

https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/23/verizon-ceo-well-switch-to-5g-standard-when-its-final-but-wont-wait-for-it/

And I had heard the standard was finalized not long after that. I'm expecting trials, but not developed infrastructure being released for public use.

I also heard there were logistical issues with these relatively large antenna arrays, mostly just physical mounting and probably a bit of politics.

That's great if it's moving that quickly. Now, when will UE hit the market?

[Tac Eht Xilef]

Also all carriers here must notify you by SMS when you've exceeded 50%, 85% and 100% of your data allowance, so it basically puts the onus back on you to do something about it.

FWIW that it doesn't apply to services with a hard cap, shaping (even if shaped data is still charged for), or "unlimited" plans, and the information can be up to 48hrs old.

Spend Management Alerts (ACMA)
Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code (ACMA, .pdf)

[Halcyon]

Also all carriers here must notify you by SMS when you've exceeded 50%, 85% and 100% of your data allowance, so it basically puts the onus back on you to do something about it.

FWIW that it doesn't apply to services with a hard cap, shaping (even if shaped data is still charged for), or "unlimited" plans, and the information can be up to 48hrs old.

Spend Management Alerts (ACMA)
Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code (ACMA, .pdf)

Those "spend management alerts" were introduced in 2013 and the guidelines haven't been updated on ACMA's website since 2015. You'll generally find alerts are much quicker since it's possible to download 1GB in less than a minute.

These days, some carriers and MVNOs generally provide real-time data relating to data usage and quotas. Telstra introduced this back in 2014. While Optus and Vodafone still claim their alerts may be up to 48 hours old.