Showcases the use of NR-DC technology to aggregate its mid-band 3500 MHz spectrum assets.
As part of its Australian 5G network, Optus, in partnership with Ericsson and MediaTek, has completed a demonstration with the use of New Radio Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) technology.
The demonstration in Sydney showcased the use of NR-DC technology to aggregate its mid-band 3500 MHz spectrum assets with its newly acquired mmWave 26 GHz spectrum to boost the 5G coverage area while maintaining superfast 5G speeds.
Using MediaTek’s M80 test platform and Ericsson’s RAN Compute (basebands) and 5G radios, the demonstration highlights the benefits of utilising both spectrum bands simultaneously, with average and peak 5G speeds expected to increase significantly as well as the ability to extend mmWave coverage over a greater distance. Optus plans to roll out this new capability across its 5G network later this year as commercial mmWave devices begin to hit the market.
According to IDC the Australian Networking Infrastructure market, comprising Ethernet Switch, Router and Wireless LAN hardware, has started recovering from the losses experienced in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said technology research firm IDC.
In the first quarter of 2021, the market experienced a year over year (YoY) growth of 16.9 per cent and ended generating total revenue of US$ 230.7 million, although this revenue is not higher than the pre-COVID level.
“After a dismal performance in 2020, the YoY growth is a positive sign for the Australian Networking Infrastructure market. It indicates that enterprises have started working on projects which were abandoned last year because of the uncertainty due to COVID-19. Also, chip shortages across the rest of the world are not having a major impact on the Australian market. Vendors have found ways to mitigate their supply chain issues here”, said Ahmar Karimullah, senior market analyst at IDC Australia.
The router market experienced the largest growth (28.6 per cent) on a yearly basis mainly due to Telecom Service Providers increasing their spending on 5G core networks this quarter. However, revenue from the deployment of routers within enterprise decreased. IDC attributes this decline to increasing SDWAN solution deployments.
The Australian SDWAN equipment market is important for connecting a hybrid workforce and it continues to grow every year. IDC forecasts the Australian SDWAN market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.75 per cent by 2024.
