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Branding for Vodafone is seen on the exterior of a shop in London, Britain, September 10, 2015. Italy has raised 462 million euros ($518 million) from the sale of spectrum to Telecom Italia and Vodafone that will be used for 4G mobile phone services. Reuters/Toby Melville

Vodafone Hutchison Australia Chief Executive Inaki Berroeta said introducing 5G mobile services in Australia falls within his top priorities for the year. He added that he considered 2018 as a milestone for Vodafone Australia as the national broadband network is expected to gain scale throughout Australia.

Berroeta told the Fairfax Media that his focus for the year ahead would be to maximise customer satisfaction and introduce tailored mobile plans aside from the 5G services.

The company, which has been playing an important part in modifying the price and profile of mobile customers, is expected to continue with its recovery in terms of subscriber and revenue growth and by increasing the competition with and reducing the profit margin of rivals like Telstra and Singtel-Optus.

"We've spent a couple of years upgrading and improving our infrastructure," said Berroeta, who will soon complete his second year as the Vodafone Australia chief. "We haven't stopped and the pace at which we continue to improve our network remains, and the reason for that is because we're already looking into 5G. I think that by 2020 we will have 5G in Australia. We're aiming for that."

The 5G technology is expected to deliver a download speed up to 10 gigabit per second coupled with a strong signal level, which is aptly suitable for driverless cars. Berroeta expects the Australian telecommunication market to profit from the $56 billion NBN and he wants his company to play a significant part in the progress.

According to him, by 2018 the NBN will reach about 10 million households in Australia and this will bring about a shift in the fixed broadband market. He said that Vodafone will be considering the needs of its customers more closely.

In September 2015, Vodafone Australia entered into a partnership with TPG that will extend and service its networks for the coming 15 years. Berroeta said that the agreement would prepare the telco’s network for a higher performing 5G network.

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