Optus to improve 5G customer experience with Ericsson’s 5G-A

Optus said that an average increase in user throughput of 22% was achieved during pilot testing of this technology

Australian carrier Optus, together with Swedish vendor Ericsson, has completed a pilot in a live network using Ericsson’s 5G-Advanced (5G-A) Interference Sensing technology, designed to improve network performance and deliver a better data experience for customers by dynamically sensing and mitigating inter cell interference in real time.   

In a release, the Australian operator noted that Interference Sensing technology, a new commercial-grade software feature within Ericsson’s Massive MIMO 5G-Advanced portfolio, uses Ericsson’s algorithm to dynamically sense and reduce inter cell interference, resulting in an increase in user throughput and network capacity. Through Ericsson’s beamforming, the signal energy is maximized for the serving cell users while avoiding interference with neighboring cell users, improving overall network capacity, Optus said.

It added that an average increase in user throughput of 22% was achieved during pilot testing, across multiple users and cells in a commercial network deployment, with the Interference Sensing functionality enabled.

The pilot in Optus’ live network showcased how Interference Sensing can make a difference in real-world situations by addressing the inter cell interference issues as the 5G networks densify and therefore providing reliable and unrivalled connectivity, the Australian carrier said. 

Kent Wu, Optus vice president of access network strategy, planning and quality, said: “We are excited at Optus to be involved in another world-first demonstration using Ericsson’s cutting-edge technology to improve our network performance and customer experience. This technology will deliver a better data experience for customers, with faster data throughput. It will also allow for the implementation of new and improved use cases for video streaming, enterprise and consumer mobile cloud gaming services, stadium 5G service applications and AR/VR.”

“The successful pilot deployment of Ericsson’s Interference Sensing marks another milestone for the telecoms sector as we push onwards with innovations that will truly unlock the full potential of 5G. Interference Sensing provides up to 40% capacity gain on existing Massive MIMO hardware with only a software upgrade — an achievement that has earned industry recognition. It has been an immense opportunity to collaborate with Optus for this first demonstration of our technology on their network. This technology will enable Optus to unlock new capacity and speed capabilities, opening the door to exciting use cases for consumers and enterprises in the 5G Advanced era,” said Sibel Tombaz, head of product line cloud and purpose-built 5G RAN, Ericsson Networks, said.

Earlier this year, Optus said it was laying the groundwork to deploy Ericsson’s multi-operator Radio Dot system across Australia to improve its indoor 5G coverage.

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.

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.