In November 2021, Optus announced the launch of a 5G SA trial prior to the commercial launch of this technology, expected for 2022
Australian operator Optus announced the deployment of its 5G network at Melbourne Airport, which is the second-busiest airport in the country.
In a release, the telco said that 5G services are already available throughout passenger terminals and in outdoor public areas.
The new 5G mobile network will improve the ability of travellers with Optus to access business-critical applications like video conferencing and file sharing, the telco said.
“We are thrilled that Optus’ 5G network is now available to passengers and workers at Melbourne Airport. Now, more than ever, critical industries like transportation are investing in fast, resilient 5G technology that underpin emerging consumer and business use cases,” said Gladys Berejiklian, managing director of enterprise and business at Optus.
Optus has recently completed what it claims to be the first four-component-carrier aggregation 5G Standalone data call in Australia.
To achieve this milestone, Optus collaborated with Nokia and MediaTek utilizing Nokia’s 5G AirScale product line and MediaTek’s Release 16 M80 modem in a smartphone form factor to achieve enhanced speeds and improved capacity during the trial.
The 4CC data trial combined Optus’ low-band spectrum and 2,100MHz FDD bands with 2,300MHz and 3,500MHz TDD bands to achieve 4x carrier aggregation.
Optus also noted that 4CC technology will be a key enabler for advanced 5G use cases in the areas of virtual and augmented reality as well as real-time gaming.
In May, Optus, Nokia and Samsung Electronics Australia announced that they have achieved a data session using three-component-carrier (3CC) Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology over a 5G Standalone network in Australia. For this trial, Nokia used its latest commercial AirScale Baseband and radio portfolio powered by its Reefshark chipset over Optus’ commercial network. The trial combined the FDD band with the TDD band using CA technology.
In November 2021, Optus announced the launch of a 5G Standalone (SA) trial prior to the commercial launch of this technology, expected for 2022.
Optus is working with Ericsson on its 5G Standalone core network.
In May 2021, Optus switched on its first 5G mmWave commercial sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Meanwhile, in July 2020, Optus said it was testing 5G mmWave technology in partnership with Ericsson. Also in 2020, Optus had successfully implemented spectrum sharing technology from Ericsson to make an end-to-end 5G video test call while simultaneously streaming video content on a 4G device.
