This table shows the growth of the Telstra 5G network across Australia, starting in May 2019:
# Telstra 5G Sites | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location | May-19 | Aug-19 | Nov-19 | Mar-20 | Nov-20 | May-21 | Oct-21 | May-22 | ||||
Adelaide | 46 | 47 | 67 | 118 | 335 | 340 | 342 | 345 | ||||
Brisbane | 63 | 115 | 131 | 181 | 525 | 538 | 678 | 686 | ||||
Canberra | 38 | 38 | 45 | 48 | 110 | 123 | 124 | 126 | ||||
Gold Coast | 54 | 62 | 72 | 83 | 120 | 127 | 84 | 84 | ||||
Hobart | 16 | 21 | 36 | 36 | 44 | 47 | 48 | 48 | ||||
Launceston | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 | ||||
Melbourne | 52 | 52 | 370 | 481 | 999 | 1,035 | 1,049 | 1,057 | ||||
Perth | 43 | 49 | 85 | 106 | 326 | 352 | 354 | 358 | ||||
Sydney | 64 | 75 | 238 | 347 | 1,085 | 1,153 | 1,167 | 1,199 | ||||
Toowoomba | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 31 | 30 | 33 | 33 | ||||
Other | 35 | 133 | 142 | 569 | 599 | 513 | 544 | |||||
TOTAL | 408 | 528 | 1,214 | 1,579 | 4,191 | 4,391 | 4,439 | 4,527 |
Also, there are 2,342 and 2,539 NBN and TPG broadband sites, respectively, across major urban centers from Perth to Brisbane.
You can see Telstra or Optus 5G sites, Telstra IoT, NBN, TPG and more at Australia Cellular Services.
81% of Telus' national network disappeared from this month's ISED SMS snapshot.
Such random variations in Telus' network, as plotted below, represent uncorrected ISED SMS snapshots. We don't use uncorrected SMS snapshots for our analysis of Canada's wireless networks — and neither should you. Please contact us for help in this area.
One year ago we asked: Is Canada behind on 5G? Today, the answer remains yes.
ENCQOR 5G is a provincial / federal initiative to develop 5G applications. But this initiative will be for not if 5G plan prices remain in the stratosphere and capacities remain in the basement. Canadian unlimited 5G plans are unlimited only in the claims made and not the value delivered.
This recent 5G mmWave test in San Jose California (and captured at right) shows an iPhone 12 Pro downloading at speeds above 3 gigabits per second — more than double the speed of fiber-to-the-home internet.
At this speed, an $80 Canadian unlimited plan would use all its monthly data — in under one minute! (At least there's SMS to keep you connected.)
One year ago, we compared high capacity plans across Canada and Australia. One year later, Canadian plans have not changed, by one dollar or one bit: $175 for 100G (Rogers); $100 for 50G (Telus). And throttling policies remain unchanged (and unusable): 0.5 megabits / second.
In contrast, Australia plans have increased capacity and lowered prices: $55 for 300GB (Vodafone); $60 for 500GB (Optus). And throttling policies remain usable: 10.0 megabits / second.
Australia and Canada are of similar size and population. So, what's keeping Canadians from enjoying what Australia already has? Until we see significant price and capacity improvements, Canadian 5G remains only a marketing slogan.
We have documented many, many times how each update to Canada Cellular Services required us to first solve a jigsaw puzzle. It was a manual process, labor intensive, and sometimes overlooked a few sites.
This month brings a new workflow, that replaces the jigsaw puzzle with machine learning algorithms trained by our 15 years experience. The result is a more accurate account of Canada's wireless landscape, immune to the random variations of uncorrected ISED SMS files.
The graphs below measure Canadian macro and metrocell assets using uncorrected ISED SMS files from the past 18 months. Compare the dips and peaks with similar graphs for Australia which accurately reflect true growth in capacity and coverage.
In short, do not rely on uncorrected SMS files for any analysis of Canada's wireless networks. We don't and neither should you. Please contact us if you need help in this area.
Australia Cellular Services uses data published by ACMA, the nation's spectrum regulator. The graphs below chart this data for the past three years across three metrics: occupied spectrum, site and channel counts.
All graphs increase predictably, and accurately reflect the growth in both capacity and coverage of cellular service across Australia.