Optus achieves 10 Gbps aggregated throughput in Brisbane

Optus, together with technology partner Nokia, has achieved 10 Gbps aggregated throughout on a live 5G site in Strathpine, Brisbane. Using Optus’s spectrum assets, the 10 Gbps throughput was achieved by aggregating Optus’s 5G spectrum bands of 3500 Mhz and 28 GHz (mmWave) on top of existing 4G spectrum band layers to deliver unprecedented bandwidth and speed, giving customers an idea of what to expect once mmWave is available commercially.

“Today’s accomplishment is yet another 5G milestone for Optus as we push hard to deliver our customers with Australia’s fastest 5G network. We already know that 5G is fast, but what we’re seeing here is innovative use of spectrum layers to deliver a single site with over 10 Gbps throughput,” said Lambo Kanagaratnam, Optus Managing Director Networks.

Kanagaratnam added that this is a demonstration of how mmWave spectrum, integrated into existing 5G and 4G sites, has the capability to boost overall site capacity.

“In addition to an increase in total site throughput, this test has demonstrated a significant increase in single-user peak speed. We are currently seeing commercial single-user peak speeds of around 1–2 Gbps on our existing 5G sites, but once the 5G mmWave layer is added we expect to see peak speeds closer to 4 Gbps,” said Kanagaratnam.

This additional capacity and faster per user speed will be important for Optus Enterprise customers, paving the way for a range of low-latency and ultrahigh-bandwidth services not available today. The increased 5G site capacity will also enable customers in densely populated areas to access the network without compromising the performance of their applications.

For example, without the added mmWave layer, average peak site capacity is around 3 Gbps, which would typically support around 75 individual 4K video streams simultaneously per 5G site. Adding the mmWave spectrum layer and increasing site capacity to 10 Gbps has the potential to support around 250 4K video streams per 5G site — an uplift of more than 230%.

The 10 Gbps recorded was a consolidated speed across multiple users by harnessing the full capability of such a high-capacity network.

Anna Wills, Head of Oceania at Nokia, said Optus’s achievement shows the potential of mmWave deployments, particularly at a time when connectivity and capacity are so crucial.

“This is another milestone in the development of 5G services and demonstrates the confidence operators have in our 5G solutions. We’re proud of our longstanding relationship with Optus and the great strides we continue to make together in this new era of connectivity,” said Wills.

Optus currently has more than 1200 5G sites covering over 830,000 households in Australia.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/peshkov