Following a successful test, Optus plans to deploy the multi-operator Ericsson Radio Dot System at indoor venues
Australian operator Optus is laying the groundwork to deploy Ericsson’s multi-operator Radio Dot system across Australia to improve its indoor 5G coverage.
In a release, Ericsson noted that once the system is fully deployed, Optus will be in a position to provide high-capacity 5G connectivity indoors enabling Australian enterprises to drive operational efficiencies.
Following an initial test, which was conducted at the Optus Lab in Sydney, Optus plans to deploy the multi-operator Ericsson Radio Dot System at indoor venues, such as sporting venues, multi-story buildings and shopping precincts across Australia. It will also be used as a 5G capacity overlay in locations where Optus has already deployed legacy solutions, like shopping center food courts, airport lounge rooms or stadium corporate rooms; the carrier expects to be able to enable new immersive technologies such as XR and VR.
The multi-operator Ericsson Radio Dot System will enable Optus to deliver high-capacity 5G in indoor environments while supporting the wideband 3.5 GHz spectrum of all Australian mobile operators.
Optus VP of Access Network Strategy, Planning and Quality Kent Wu said: “This successful test and upcoming deployment of Radio Dot highlights Optus’ commitment to delivering the highest quality and innovative technologies to meet the growing needs of its enterprise customers, and end users. With Ericsson’s multi-operator 5G Radio Dot system, Optus can support its consumer and enterprise customers across multiple venues to deliver a high-capacity 5G solution for both uplink and downlink and enhance 5G customer experience in indoor locations enabling new emerging use cases such as XR/VR, and precise positioning.”
Ericsson noted that the first production implementation for the multi-operator Ericsson Radio Dot System is planned in Optus’ network in New South Wales during 2024.
Last year, Optus, Ericsson and chipset maker MediaTek had announced what they say is Australia’s first over-the-air data-call using Ericsson’s pre-commercial Reduced Capability (RedCap) software on Optus’ 5G network.
Optus said that the small device size, long battery life and substantial throughput of RedCap devices would make them ideal for many mobile consumer applications such as wearables, health monitors, augmented reality (AR) devices, as well as industrial applications such as video surveillance and industrial sensors.
Optus also said that the call was made possible using Ericsson’s advanced Reduced Capability (RedCap) software using any available 5G spectrum, with both time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD), in low and mid frequency bands.
RedCap, sometimes referred to as NR Light, is a reduced set of 5G capabilities intended for devices like wearables and low-cost hotspots that have low battery consumption, lower costs and lower bandwidth requirements. Introduced with 3GPP Release 17, 5G RedCap is designed for devices currently served by LTE CAT-4 but provides equivalent or better in performance with up to 150 Mbps theoretical maximum downlink throughput.
