Optus 'Gigasites' Trial Achieve a Massive 4G Speed Of 2.3 GBPS

Gigasites, the two live network test sites developed by Optus to test its entire spectrum assets, have had many a firsts to their names:

• They've registered the highest total throughput ever on a live mobile network site (1.65-2.3 Gbps)
• They have utilized most spectrum ever on a live network site
• They've used most numbers of 4G layers (five) on a single site
• They've unique eight technology/band combos

The two Gigasites, which are being hailed as the 'developers of the network of the future', were developed with Optus' partners Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) and Huawei. The trial was not conducted in lab conditions, but on a live network, with real devices and all. To generate over 2 gbps, Optus along with its partners mobilized sixteen test-drive vehicles, 21 engineers, 58 devices comprising smartphones and dongles, and 31 laptops - to load up the Gigasites with data traffic. The high speeds were achieved via TDD (time division duplex) 4G technology, that's more apt for data traffic as compared to FDD (frequency division duplex) standard applied by a majority of the world.

Optus claims that these Gigasites represent Australia's first LTE 3500 network trial. In future, the company shall explore how the 3500 MHz spectrum could be employed in future mobile networks. The present trail shall lead them towards a better decision-making process, believes Andrew Smith, Optus Vice President of Mobile Engineering.