SINGAPORE (Dec 10): Optus, Singapore Telecommunications’ Australian subsidiary, has successfully acquired new regional licences for its customers in the 3.6GHz spectrum band.
These new regional spectrum licences will enable Optus to offer 5G services to customers across Australia with the addition of Optus’ existing large holdings of metropolitan 3.4GHz spectrum.
Announced by Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on Monday, Optus won 47 regional lots for a total amount of A$185.1 million ($182 million) across North and Central Queensland, South East Queensland/Northern NSW, regional Victoria and South Australia, Tasmania and Southern/Western NSW.
Dennis Wong, Optus Networks Managing Director, says, “The additional spectrum positions Optus strongly to deliver 5G services in cities, regions and holiday locations. We are committed to commercially launching Fixed Wireless Access services early in 2019 and we can now extend these services to Regional Australia.”
Optus has delivered live trials and shared 5G proof of concepts in its network and in test environments including a world class 5G Live! showcase during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games which featured 8K video streaming on-the-go on Optus’s live 5G trial indoor and outdoor network, in which speeds of 16Gbps were achieved.
Year to date, shares in Singtel are down 14.4% to close at $3.08 on Friday.
