Telstra achieved record peak download of 4.3 Gbps on 5G mmWave with Ericsson

Australian operator Telstra, in partnership with Ericsson, has achieved record peak download speeds of 4.2 Gbps on a 5G mmWave data call. This was achieved on Telstra’s commercial network at the heart of 5G Innovation Centre in Queensland using, an Ericsson Radio System base-station, Ericsson’s Network Software and Ericsson core network and a mobile test platform .

The configuration used  for the test  of mmWave in Telstra’s commercial network which is the use of the 8CC with 8 carrier x 100MHz aggregation software for another compatible device: The Telstra 5G Wi-Fi Pro mmWave. It was put through similar tests and achieved a network record of its own when it clocked 200Mbps on the uplink, as part of the same testing.

Telstra plans to roll out mmWave technologies in 2021. mmWave spectrum will be auctioned by 2021 and is expected to bring with it massive capacity over short ranges. Even though spectrum is not yet on sale, Telstra says it already has mmWave on live sites on its network for testing and optimisation.

The operator reports it currently has more than 1500 Telstra 5G sites on-air across selected areas of 53 cities and towns. More than 1000 suburbs nationally have more than 50 percent 5G coverage and it is working for achieving 75 percent of the population covered with Telstra 5G by August 2021.