Telstra, Australia’s largest mobile operator, announced it completed video calls on its test 5G network and unveiled a mid-band 5G mobile hotspot device from HTC.

Working with Ericsson and Qualcomm, the operator made what it said was the first 5G video call in the country, conducted at its 5G Innovation Centre in Gold Coast. It also made a video call from its Sydney headquarters to the 5G centre.

The HTC 5G Hub device, built in collaboration with Telstra, is expected to be available in 2019.

Andrew Penn, Telstra CEO (pictured), said the device unveiling marked an important milestone in its 5G roadmap, signalling consumers and businesses are one step closer to getting their hands on 5G devices.

“Telstra’s 5G development and testing in real-world environments is crucial to ensure Australians are among the first in the world to have access to 5G devices such as the HTC 5G Hub,” Penn said.

The operator also revealed a 5G smartphone prototype from ZTE and a 5G mobile hotspot prototype from Inseego.

In August it switched on its first 5G-compatible cell sites in Gold Coast to enable testing of pre-commercial devices, with aims to deploy more than 200 sites across Australia by the year-end. Penn said the base stations support peak speeds approaching 2Gb/s.