Telstra turned on 5G base stations in parts of Melbourne and Sydney, expanding the number of 5G-compatible sites lit by the operator across the country to 187.

The operator said after being given early access to 3.6GHz spectrum it won at auction last week, it upgraded mobile base stations near airports and at two of its facilities in the cities.

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.

Telstra CEO Andrew Penn said it now has 5G-enabled sites in all major cities across the country.

The operator acquired 3.6GHz spectrum for AUD386 million ($277 million), giving it 60MHz of contiguous 5G spectrum in all major capital cities and between 50MHz and 80MHz in regional areas.

Last week it also announced it connected its first enterprise customer with a commercial 5G device to its next-generation mobile network in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Consumer 5G services are not expected to become available until the first half of 2019 as more 5G devices are released.