Optus’ 4.5G Network Launched In Sydney’s North-West

Optus switched on 4.5G network services in the north-western Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park today, kicking off a year-long rollout that will ultimately aim to see over 70 per cent of the Optus network reached in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Tests at the Optus Macquarie Park campus yesterday showed speeds of 1.03Gbps, the telco says.

The 4.5G network came about as a partnership between Optus and Huawei, and promises “immediate significant benefits” for customers in the area – especially during periods of high usage.

“When commercial devices become available during 2017, customers in the area will experience higher throughput speeds than currently available on Optus’ 4G+ network,” Optus said in a statement.

“4.5G is a key area of investment for our network evolution towards 5G,” said Dennis Wong, Managing Director of Networks at Optus.

Wong said Macquarie Park was chosen as it is not only one of the largest business districts in Sydney and home to Optus’ Sydney headquarters, but also offers a wide range of infrastructure: a university, shopping centre, transport hubs and a strong cross section of residential and business customers.

“The precinct is Sydney’s technology hub and it is this diversity that will ensure we’re able to see how the network performs in a wide variety of scenarios,” Wong said.

“Ultimately, the launch is a step closer to Optus being able to deliver 5G network speeds to customers and will continue to invest in R&D and our partnership with Huawei to achieve this.”


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