The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price will be one for investors to watch this morning.
This follows the release of an announcement relating to its 5G leadership position.
What did Telstra announce?
This morning the telco giant announced that it has secured 1000 MHz in the 26 GHz spectrum auction.
According to the release, Telstra is investing $277 million for this additional spectrum, which it expects to further extend its leadership in 5G now and into the future. The company advised that it will be paying for the spectrum in five equal annual instalments.
Positively, Telstra revealed that it secured the spectrum in all major capital cities and regional areas where it was sold.
The company's CEO, Andrew Penn, believes the new mmWave spectrum will dramatically increase capacity and speeds for customers, building on the "already superior 5G experience Telstra provides across the country."
Mr Penn said: "High speed connectivity is critical to Australia's future prosperity and our aspirations to be a world leading digital economy. It has become central to all of our lives – the way we live, work, keep ourselves entertained and stay connected, and more and more 5G will be at the heart of that."
What is mmWave spectrum?
Mr Penn explained that mmWave spectrum is particularly good at providing high-speed mobile broadband in high-density areas. This includes built up cities and towns, train stations, sport stadiums and other locations with a high concentration of people using their mobile devices.
He added: "Imagine watching the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with your 5G-powered augmented reality goggles overlaying real time player stats, all at the same time as thousands of others are enjoying the game alongside you – that's the immense bandwidth and speed that mmWave can offer."
Telstra has already been testing the technology and reported excellent results.
"Telstra has been testing mmWave at a number of sites for some time, achieving a record peak download speed of 5 Gbps in a test earlier this year. We launched our first mmWave-compatible device in May 2020 and we are working closely with global device manufacturers to bring more mmWave-capable devices to market this calendar year," Mr Penn commented.
The release explains that Telstra's 5G network now covers almost two-thirds of the Australian population and is on track to reach 75% by the end of June.
Furthermore, there are now more than 3,200 Telstra 5G sites on-air in more than 160 cities and towns, and 5G coverage is available in more than 2,450 suburbs across the country.
The Telstra share price is up 13% in 2021. Investors will no doubt be hoping this announcement take it even higher.
