Australian operator Optus said it has successfully implemented spectrum sharing technology from Ericsson to made an end-to-end 5G video test call while simultaneously streaming video content on a 4G device.
Using the Optus 5G network in Australia and Singtel’s pilot 5G network in Singapore, the inter-country video call was made with a pre-commercial Oppo 5G device equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System while also video streaming content on a 4G device connected to the same spectrum.
The Optus network was able to assign spectrum resources on both 4G and 5G switching between them in milliseconds to support the different service video demands from both users, Optus said.
The Australian carrier highlighted that the recent test demonstrates the benefits of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing, a technology that allows an operator use the same spectrum at the same time for LTE and 5G, with the network base stations controlling the allocation of spectrum.
“While we have customers benefitting from our 5G network, both in the home and on the go, we are busy behind the scenes looking at how we can maximize the future benefits of 5G,” said Kent Wu, head of access network planning and quality at Optus.
“Optus is one of the first few operators in the world to demonstrate this Dynamic Spectrum Sharing with end to end capability. Our 4G network currently covers 97.3% of Australians and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing will enable us to efficiently manage our spectrum assets in a way that addresses the needs of our existing 4G customers whilst also assisting to widen our 5G coverage and unlocking new video experience services on 5G,” Wu added.
The executive added that spectrum sharing will play a key role in enabling the company to deliver 4K Ultra HD live streaming sports and 4K streaming video-on-demand entertainment content experience on the Optus 5G network in 2020.
In December, Optus claimed to have made the world’s first 5G data call using 2.3 GHz spectrum in a trial completed in Sydney using kit from Ericsson.
Following the test, Optus Managing Director of Networks Dennis Wong said that Optus plans to turn on its 2.3 GHz spectrum sometime in 2020.
This latest achievement comes almost a year after the carrier partnered with Nokia to complete its first-ever 5G call in January 2019 using 3.5 GHz spectrum and 60 megahertz of channel bandwidth.
The carrier ended last year with nearly 300 live 5G sites across Australia, with plans to connect 1,200 sites by March 2020.
In addition, Optus recently announced the general availability of its 5G Home fixed wireless service across the 138,000 home footprint covered by its 5G network.
Optus is controlled by Singapore telecommunications group Singtel.
