Australia’s largest network operator this week launched limited 5G services with a device that customers can use to connect other devices. Telstra has started building out 5G coverage in 10 cities and plans to expand the network almost five-fold in total coverage area to at least 35 cities during the next 12 months.

The network operator has also built a 5G coverage site that customers can reference to determine where Telstra anticipates 5G coverage will be available by the end of June. The first 10 cities to get 5G include Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Toowoomba.

Telstra CEO Andrew Penn described the 5G deployment as the culmination of a “significant” five-year, $5.53 billion investment in its network. Ericsson, which was named a "key 5G partner" with Telstra in late 2018, is likely one of the largest beneficiaries of that investment.

“The launch of 5G will bring advancements in mobile gaming, virtual reality experiences, HD video conferencing, and other apps not yet thought of,” Penn wrote in a blog post. “While the high speed and low latency 5G will provide will be enormously beneficial for some, we know not everyone is necessarily going to need it or value it.”

To that end, Telstra plans to reduce the number of service plans and give customers more flexibility to decide what features they want. “Our overriding principle is for our customers to have the freedom and flexibility to choose the experiences they value and not pay for experiences they don’t,” Penn wrote. “So as we build out 5G we’re taking a different approach.”

Telstra’s 5G service will initially be available as a free trial, but when that trial period ends the operator plans to charge an extra $15 per month for 5G connectivity and envisions adding other optional add-ons for enterprise use cases.

Prior to the launch the vendor and network operator initiated multiple 5G trials, including what it claimed to be the world’s first 5G data call using millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum. They also worked on a 5G Innovation Center that has developed 5G-enabled WiFi hot spots, a 5G connected car, and an end-to-end 5G non-standalone (NSA) data call on a commercial mobile network. Ericsson and Telstra have a long partnership and have also been working together on Narrowband IoT and CAT-M1 (also known as LTE CAT-M or LTE-M) for IoT devices.

Ericsson’s largest competitor, Huawei, was effectively banned from Australia after government officials uncovered serious vulnerabilities in the China-based vendor's equipment and determined the country’s national interests could be exposed to spying and sabotage. Earlier this week, Reuters published a detailed investigation about how government hackers in Australia were stunned by their findings in early 2018, which prompted the country’s security and political leaders to join a worldwide campaign against Huawei.

That campaign hit a crescendo last week when President Donald Trump signed an executive order that effectively banned the use of Huawei equipment and severely limited the Chinese vendor’s ability to purchase American-made products.