Optus has successfully integrated the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ into live 4.5G sites at Macquarie Park, Sydney, with the smartphone achieving 945Mbps speed running live applications.
The Optus 4.5G Network utilises combined 4×4 MIMO, FDD+TDD 5CC Carrier Aggregation technologies. The 945Mbps speed reached over this technology mix on a commercial smartphone is a world-first achievement.
Director of Mobile Network Planning at Optus Kent Wu said, “Achieving gigabit LTE speeds over the Optus 4.5G network with a commercially available smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ is a significant achievement.
“Importantly, it showcases Optus’ commitment to continuing to work towards delivery of technology advancements for the Gbps mobile user experience, while we rapidly progress on 5G development,” said Wu.
Both MIMO and multiple Carrier Aggregation technologies are considered key to enabling Optus’s 4.5G network, which launched with its first sites early last year in Macquarie Park.
Through development with technology partners, Optus used FDD LTE 2600MHz with 4 Layer MIMO and 4 carriers of TDD 2300MHz with 2 Layer MIMO, combined with higher order modulation of 256QAM to reach a theoretical of 1Gbps.
Garry McGregor, Samsung Electronics Australia, said, “Samsung is deeply committed to providing our Australian customers with an amazing smartphone experience and this extends to the way we collaborate with operators like Optus to ensure this developing technology will be able to deliver an incredibly fast network performance with the Galaxy S9 and S9+.”
“Examples like this show how crucial collaboration is between network providers like Optus, technology partners and manufacturers like Samsung in developing consumers access to high speed and new telecommunications technologies, particularly as we move closer to 5G,” said Wu.
