Optus launches LTE services for SME, government users in Perth and Sydney

Optus, the Australia’s second largest mobile network operator by subscribers has announced a raft of network-related developments, the most notable of which is arguably the launch of commercial Long Term Evolution-based (LTE-based) services for SME and government customers in Sydney and Perth which was announced on 31st July,2012.

As the next stage of its 4G rollout strategy, Optus has confirmed the expanded availability of services offered over its in-deployment Frequency Division Duplex LTE (FDD-LTE) network, noting that customers in the two aforementioned cites will able to connect either via USB mobile broadband dongles or mobile Wi-Fi hotpots. Two 4G-compatible devices will be offered by Optus, with those being the ‘Optus 4G USB’ and the ‘Optus 4G mobile Wi-Fi modem’. Both devices will use dual mode 4G/3G HSPA technology enabling them to operate across the 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz spectrum bands.

Optus has also announced that, in preparation for the construction of a national Time Division Duplex LTE (TDD-LTE) network in 2013, it has begun trials of such services at the Optus Campus in Macquarie Park and St Marys in western Sydney. Conducting its first public demonstration of the technology the operator achieved a peak site throughput capacity of over 200Mbps and a consistent per-user range of speeds between 25Mbps and 87Mbps.