Telstra announces its first three 5G smartphones

Back in January, Telstra CEO Andy Penn said that Telstra would have exclusive device partnerships for 5G smartphones in the first half of this year, but didn't disclose with which manufactures. Now we know.

The first three 5G smartphones available on Telstra will be the Galaxy S10 5G, the LG V50 ThinQ, and OPPO's yet to be announced 5G smartphone. The V50 ThinQ will be completely exclusive to Telstra, the Galaxy S10 5G will be available first on Telstra, and we're not quite sure what the deal is with the OPPO (it will be available on Optus too, but not necessarily at the same time).

"Telstra is 5G-ready now," said Penn, speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "When we began rolling out 5G technology across Australia back in August, we also started working closely with the major mobile brands and leading manufacturers of 5G handsets. This was so Telstra customers would not only be the first to access to 5G smartphones but also have a variety of products to choose from."

Telstra is also planning to launch a HTC-made 5G modem in the coming months.

Read more about 5G here.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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