Is the Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price a buy after we learned some news of its 5G pricing?
Telstra's chief executive officer Mr Andy Penn, speaking at MWC, the world's largest mobile telecommunications conference, said that Telstra is unlikely to charge customers more to use its 5G network than it's now charging for the 4G network, according to AFR reporting.
Although Telstra's formal pricing will be announced when 5G phones and modems are available that can use the network, Mr Penn said that the mobile connection plans likely wouldn't be differentially priced compared to the 4G pricing.
Telstra has already activated over 200 5G sites in most of Australia's capital cities, as well as Launceston, the Gold Coast and Toowoomba.
Some of the first 5G devices, such as ones from Samsung, will be available in the next few months. Other 5G phones from device makers LG and Oppo will also be available soon.
Telstra also said that it had been working with HTC to create a 5G WiFi hotspot modem, which could be the first actual 5G device on the market.
Is this good news for Telstra?
The Telstra share price has fallen by 1.2% in early response to this news. I can see why. At first the 5G coverage will be fairly limited and it might disappoint some investors to learn that users won't be paying any more for the 5G service for their mobile compared to 4G.
One can only hope, from a shareholder perspective, that Telstra is able to charge more for 5G as time goes on, with coverage and reliability increasing.
The official Telstra 5G prices haven't been released yet but if prices are similar to 4G then it would make me even less likely to buy Telstra shares.
