At the 2018 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the show floor is abuzz with news and demonstrations of 5G, and the latest developments in 4G and the Internet of Things. Here’s what we saw.

Like CES 2018 in January, MWC has been dominated by talk of 5G – the next generation of mobile technology that looks set to provide a massive boost in capacity and speed, as well as the ability for a variety of low-power Internet of Things devices to be connected simultaneously. The same use cases for connected cars and wearables are on show, demonstrating the huge potential for every part of our lives to be touched by technology.

We are investing heavily in our planning for 5G, continuing our stated goal of building the Networks for the Future for our customers. At our 5G Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast, we will be completing a number of trials in 2018 to demonstrate the potential of 5G and establish the ways in which this new technology will transform the way we live and work.

The centrepiece of MWC has undoubtedly been the launch of our partner Samsung’s new Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones, innovative dual-aperture cameras that switch between various lighting conditions with ease and take smartphone photography to the next level. You can pre-order the new Galaxy S9 right now before its release on March 16.

Plenty of other smartphones from other companies like Nokia and Alcatel were introduced, too. One interesting trend is that many smartphones are moving to a 18:9 screen ratio – a longer display that allows more information to be shown without expanding the width of the handset itself. What’s old is also new again, with Nokia also announcing the return of the iconic ‘Matrix phone’ at the show.

One major potential benefit of using 5G and our always-improving 4G service is for the Internet of Things – a new class of wireless devices with low-power and high-efficiency connection ability. Telstra’s technology partner Ericsson demonstrated an IoT use case for agriculture at its MWC booth, with a connected irrigation device reporting a wealth of data on sensor status and alerts; these high-tech applications will help farmers and our other customers better understand their businesses in the years to come.

We demonstrated record breaking 4G download speeds of 2Gbps at MWC together with our technology partners Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies. We also announced our plan to add this new speed capability to our mobile network in selected areas in the coming months.

While at MWC, we have also taken the opportunity to meet with media and our partners to discuss our advancement in LTE-Broadcast technology, which we will be introducing with the AFL Live Official app in time for round one, for our Samsung Galaxy S8 and S9 customers. The new technology allows for streaming of AFL games in the highest possible video and audio quality, no matter how many fans are watching at the same time and in the same location – enabling a seamless streaming experience.