Telstra unveils 5G innovation centre on Australia’s Gold Coast

Australia’s largest telco Telstra has opened a new $60mn 5G innovation centre on the Gold Coast, showcasing how the technology can benefit driverless motoring and even surfer lifeguarding.

Costing $60mn, the centre is located at Telstra’s Southport Exchange and follows news from rival Optus that it is planning to roll out 5G networks next year.

Tesltra reaffirmed its $5bn investment in 5G technology during the 2017-19 period, but did not, however, commit to a network rollout date.

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Chief Operations Officer, Robyn Denholm, said: “5G will take us from a world of connecting people to each other and the internet to a world of ultra-fast mobile speeds and the Internet of Things on a mass scale. 

“These enhancements will unleash a host of new opportunities – everything from smart cities and smart homes, to drones and driverless cars, to augmented reality in both entertainment and at work.”

The innovation centre is designed to enable collaboration among technology vendors, developers, startups and enterprise customers. The company will also conduct more 5G field trials in the coming months in and around the Gold Coast

Among the demonstrations at the centre are a field trial a moving vehicle demonstrating how 5G can deliver an immersive view from the driver’s perspective via virtual reality headsets, supporting autonomous driving. It also showcases how AI-enabled drones can aid with surfer lifesaving.