Optus has announced it has broken the Australian record for 5G speeds, delivering a download speed of 2.5-2.8 Gbps on a Samsung Galaxy S20 5G at their test site.
The company says they will enhance 150 of their 5G sites in Sydney and Melbourne with “ultra-high-speed” within a few weeks by unlocking 100Mhz of 3500Mhz midband 5G spectrum for 5G Home and 5G Mobile customers in these areas.
“The speeds we have achieved today are a real taste of what we are capable of delivering to Optus 5G Mobile customers in the coming months as we progressively roll out 5G ultra-high-speed sites in Sydney and Melbourne.”
Mr Kanagaratnam said speed is a critical component of 5G but “not all speeds are created equal. He went on to make a bold claim that Optus will offer the “fastest 5G”:
“Optus 5G ultra-high-speed sites are the next step in our ambition to deliver Australians a network that offers the fastest 5G. This is not lab technology, this technology is available now and we have an ambitious rollout plan over the next few months to ensure that more of our Optus 5G Mobile customers benefit from these ‘gigabit’ speeds.”
The Optus 5G Home Internet service is already delivering average download speeds of 214Mbps, and this increase in spectrum bandwidth of around 60% should result in even faster average speeds for customers.
Optus currently has over 920 5G sites available to over 650,000 Australian homes, and the rollout is continuing.
Optus is also offering customers a 5G Price Match Guarantee on the purchase of 5G phones
stocked by Optus, ensuring customers can get the latest 5G handsets at the best price in Australia.
As with any mobile wireless communications technology there are of course caveats. The actual speed experienced by each Optus 5G customer will vary based on factors such as distance from the 5G tower, along with local conditions like obstructions and line of sight, and levels of internet traffic.
Ausdroid will be testing out Optus’ 5G Home Internet service in the near future, and we’re looking forward to the potential speed boost afforded by the extra spectrum.
