5G coming December

Vodafone intends rolling out 5G in December for “selected locations” in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Said to be up to 10 times faster than 4G, alongside which it will co-exist, 5G will be useful for autonomous vehicles and connected technology.

“It will open up lots of exciting opportunities when you think of 5G, robots, self-driving cars,” Vodafone says.

Companies could have their own mobile networks under 5G, useful for automation of ports and other large transport centres.

Vodafone’s 5G announcement coincided with the sale of Vodafone NZ to Infratil and Canadian investor Brookfield, with 5G from the Vodafone Group already in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Spark has been trialling 5G in Auckland, including with driverless vehicles, and expects to have 5G publicly available from about July 2020.

5G will use spectrum in the existing LTE frequency range (600mHz to 6gHz) and also in millimetre wave bands (24–86gHz).

Mobile phones and other devices with 5G capability are expected to be available towards the end of this year and early in 2020.