Optus Accelerates 5G with six mmWave locations in Australia

Optus has advanced it’s 5G leadership, switching on its first six 5G mmWave commercial sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, just as the carrier reaches 1 million 5G capable devices on its network.

Optus’ mmWave sites are equipped with 800Mhz spectrum, tapping into the ‘golden Ghz’ acquired during last month’s 5G spectrum auction. For Optus customers this means that once mmWave commercial devices are available they will benefit from the ultra-high capacity and speeds enabled by mmWave.

It’s this capacity and speed that will be the catalyst for a wave of new use cases that will change the way consumers engage with tech and businesses and how government operate - from downloading ultra-high definition videos in the blink of an eye, to precision industrial automation, driverless cars and smart cities.

The new mmWave sites include; four Sydney based locations, Kings Cross, Surry Hills, North Ryde and Optus Sydney Campus, as well as Huntingdale in Melbourne and Strathpine in Brisbane, with more to come over the coming weeks.

‘What a fantastic day for Optus 5G as we mark not one, but two milestones on our world class network. The demand from our customers for 5G capable devices has surged in recent months, with eight out of 10 handsets that we sell today now 5G enabled. One million 5G devices is just the beginning for us and as we grow our 5G network and launch new capabilities we expect our 5G customer base to grow in parallel,” said Matt Williams, Managing Director Marketing and Revenue Optus.

“Customers want and expect the latest tech when it comes to their network and at Optus we are committed to delivering this, which is why today we have also switched on our first six mmWave sites.”

Lambo Kanagaratnam, Managing Director Network Optus said, “We’ve been testing mmWave for many months, harnessing and pushing its capabilities so that once commercial devices enter the market our customers will truly be able to benefit from the capacity and speeds that this incredible technology delivers. In fact, mmWave is set to blow current mobile and home internet speeds out of the water, with the potential for multi-gigabit speeds which is much faster than what Australians are used to getting today.”

mmWave technology offers ultra-high capacity, which is expected to be a gamechanger for high simultaneous data consumption locations like sports stadiums and special event locations such as Sydney Harbour during the New Year’s Eve fireworks. mmWave will also pave the way for a host of new solutions across enterprise and government, with its blazing fast gigabit speeds and high-volume capacity expected to drive change in the way companies automate and innovate within their business.

Optus currently has more than 1200 5G sites, including six mmWave enabled sites.