5G home internet is nothing new, but Optus says it’s changing the game by introducing 5G Standalone (5G SA) for its home internet service.
The telco says the move will expand the footprint from a potential customer base of two million homes and businesses to 3.6 million, and improve the quality of connections.
According to Optus Head Of Home, Jason Blair, the 5G network “as it currently exists across Australia uses 5G non-standalone, which means that it relies on the 4G radio and core network and has to lily pad to 5G to reap its benefits”.
However 5G SA runs independently of the 4G network. Blair says it is built on Optus’ cloud-native 5G SA Core and 5G Radio architecture: “This means that it communicates directly to the 5G base station without relying on 4G, allowing more devices to communicate at the same time with a more stable and consistent 5G experience.”
5G SA is currently available to eligible customers who have a new Optus plug and play Ultra WiFi 5G modem, and who sign up to a new Optus 5G home internet plan from August 26.
Optus says all other existing customers using an Optus Ultra WiFi 5G modem on eligible plans will gain access to 5G SA in late 2024.
Blair says an “optimised experience” means faster, smoother video streaming and gaming, and “quicker browsing”.
“The reduced latency means less buffering, fewer interruptions, and a more seamless experience when watching your favourite shows or surfing the web,” he says.
“5G SA is also the foundation for some of the most transformative next gen capabilities such as cloud gaming and extended reality.”
Evolution of wireless tech. Graphic: Optus.
The future of 5G SA “allows for ultra-low latency (buffering), which means that you can get very granular and optimise your experience for unique use cases”, Blair says.
He gives an example: “Low latency slicing could be used for online gaming where better ping will mean an advantage over their opponents, or those who want an immersive experience in augmented and virtual reality – both require close to real time response.”
Optus launched its 5G standalone network in 2022 for its mobile connectivity
Blair says 5G SA “creates the potential for network slicing, cloud orchestration, edge computing and self-healing networks that will progressively elevate our home connectivity’s capabilities”.
Optus partnered with Ericsson to build the 5G core network, “enabling the speed, intelligence, scale and security to deliver 5G services to our customers”, Blair says.
