Dennis Wong (Optus)
Optus has made its first 5G data call over 2300MHz spectrum in what is being claimed to be a world-first by a telecommunications carrier.
The telco partnered with Ericsson to make the call from Sydney almost a year after making its first-ever 5G call in January this year.
The move reflects Optus’ attempts to test out a wider array of spectrum, having made the first call using 3.5 GHz on Nokia's customer premise equipment, to now using 2300MHz with Ericsson.
“There is strong industry interest in the use of the for 5G and as the only telecommunications operator in Australia to currently have access to this band in metro capital cities, it’s great to be leading the way with testing and trialing this for future 5G deployment,” said Dennis Wong, Optus networks managing director.
The Singtel-owned telco claimed it was now working towards deploying 2300MHz spectrum during 2020 alongside its existing 3500MHz.
As of now, Optus has 300 5G sites live across Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, as well as others across NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
Optus currently is embroiled in something of an arms race with Australian telco leader Telstra for 5G capability.
Six months after Optus’ first attempt, Telstra revealed it had made an end-to-end 5G Standalone call, although both still rely on a transitional standard that involves the use of 5G equipment on 4G network.
Optus confirmed this latest call was also made using non-standalone architecture.
