Nokia and Optus achieve ‘record’ speeds for 5G mmWave layer

Mobile giant Nokia and Australian wireless carrier Optus have teamed up to achieve a “record-breaking speed” of 10 Gbps using 800MHz of mmWave at a live 5G test site.

The two companies claim the 10 Gbps downlink throughput achieved on a live site in Brisbane powered by Nokia’s 5G AirScale is the fastest ever recorded at the mmWave layer.

The recent demonstration was set up to “showcase 5G mmWave technology” when added on top of an existing 5G/4G site. Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark said the results demonstrated both “ultrafast speeds for consumers and businesses [and] greater capacity to enable 5G solutions for healthcare, mining, ports and smart manufacturing”.

"[We're] unlocking massive potential that 5G mmWave will bring to the consumers, enterprises and industries" - Lambo Kanagaratnam (Optus)

"By partnering with Nokia, we've taken an exciting step towards unlocking the massive potential that 5G mmWave will bring to the consumers, enterprises and industries in Australia," added Lambo Kanagaratnam, managing director of networks at Optus.

Millimetre Wave (mmWave) spectrum can be harnessed to boost capacity for low-latency, high-bandwidth services.

It is a third major collaboration between the two companies, having worked together on the Optus Stadium in Perth and the deployment of Nokia’s FastMile 5G indoor gateway in a live 5G network in 2019.