Telstra said on Wednesday that it had switched on what it said were Australia's first 5G services, covering parts of the Gold Coast.

But Optus Networks managing director Dennis Wong contested this claim on Thursday. In a statement, he said the company had already publicly demonstrated its 5G capability in April at its 5G Live showcase during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

This demonstration "combined state-of-the-art 5G use cases and 8K video streaming on-the-go on Optus’s live 5G trial indoor and outdoor network, in addition to achieving speeds of 16Gbps", Wong added.

For example, Motorola claimed earlier this month that it had released the first 5G smartphone — the Moto Z3 — which is actually a 4G phone, with the 5G capabilities to come via an accessory that the company plans to release sometime early next year, which will snap onto the phone's back.

"With our substantial spectrum holdings compared to our competitor and our advanced planning, Optus is confident in its ability to deliver commercial 5G services in January 2019. We will update the market on our plans in early September," Wong said.