Optus innovation: World firsts, Australia firsts and more

Optus has connected Aussies for coming on 35 years now. Our roots trace back to Aussat, Australia’s first national communications satellite company, and with heritage as strong as that, there’s one thing that’s undeniable – innovation is key to the history of Optus.

Over more than three decades, we haven’t stopped improving, iterating, and learning. We work closely with our partners to deliver the best experience we can for Australians, businesses and enterprise clients.

It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of hard work – and we want to share some of our milestones with you in this article. We’re going to be updating this article now and again with our latest innovations, but for now, here’s a recap of our milestones in 2026. Check back now and again to see what we’ve been up to.

2026

October 2026

Optus boosts indoor 5G coverage with Indoor Fusion in Australia First

Partnering with Ericsson, Optus has set a new benchmark for enhanced indoor 4G and 5G coverage through the first Australian deployment of Ericsson’s Indoor Fusion solution at the Optus store in Coffs Harbour.

It’s the kind of innovation that could lead to faster and more consistent network experiences indoors. According to Ericsson, more than 80 per cent of mobile data usage occurs indoors, with this kind of solution being perfect for network-intensive indoor environments such as shopping centres, large retail stores, and of course our very own Yes Optus stores.

August 2026

Optus completes landmark 6G trial including world-first use of robotic dog for network design

Working with Nokia, Optus conducted an advanced 6G research trial testing the upper 6GHz spectrum. We demonstrated 3.5 Gbps download speeds in that upper spectrum over a smartphone device, and successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a world-first AI-powered robot dog platform to automate mobile signal measurements and help design future 6G indoor networks.

What this trial essentially means for our customers is a more informed 6G network that meets Australia’s needs. “Achieving 3.5Gbps using upper 6GHz spectrum demonstrates the significant opportunity this band could provide for future networks as demand for data-intensive applications such as AI services, immersive video, cloud applications and connected devices continues to grow,” Optus Chief Technology Officer Sri Amirthalingam said.

The results of this trial contribute to our ongoing 6G research and development.

July 2026

Optus completes world-first trial of network automation for restoring mobile coverage in near real time

Working with Nokia, Optus has successfully completed a world-first live network trial of near real-time automatic Cell Coverage Compensation technology that can detect outages and restore mobile coverage across a live 4G and 5G multi-vendor network.

This world first represents how we’re constantly working to improve our network resilience and reliability. By combining advanced automation with near real-time outage detection, the solution helps minimise service disruption during events such as extreme weather, power failures and planned maintenance activities, ensuring customers remain connected when it matters most.

May 2026

Optus achieves a world-first milestone in boosting the 5G customer experience
Working with Ericsson, Optus achieved a world-first milestone for 5G standalone. Combining two mid-band TDD spectrum holdings across 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz, our network achieved a record 180MHz TDD spectrum aggregation.

What does this world-first mean for our customers? A better experience with our 5G network, optimised for data-intensive applications and services, such as demanding video streaming, VR applications and large file downloads, this breakthrough ensures a more reliable, high-quality connectivity experience in high-traffic environments, such as CBDs, sporting events and transport hubs.

March 2026

Optus achieves an Australia-first with AI model for accurate 5G Standalone coverage prediction

Partnering with Ericsson, we trialed a new AI model that would detect whether a device on a frequency layer would also be in range of another frequency in 5G standalone networks. This was an Australian first of its kind collaboration between Ericsson and a network operator, enabling faster handovers, fewer drops, and better device battery performance.

Working with Ericsson, we also announced a new AI-native Radio Access Network (RAN) link adaption capability, demonstrating how AI can have real world outcomes for customers on our network, delivering more speed, reliability and better experience for mobile customers on the network.

We won the 2026 Light Reading Leading Lights Award for outstanding Use Case: AI/Machine Learning for the above two AI innovations.

These Australia-firsts showcased how we’re proactively deploying AI to improve our 5G network for our customers. The end result is likely to mean stronger performance and more reliable connections in challenging areas, such as indoors, at the edge of coverage and in busy urban environments.

Optus achieves world-first in powering emergency service location positioning

Working closely with Ericsson and FrontierSI, we conducted a world-first proof of concept involving centimetre-level positioning capabilities for emergency services using a live commercial 5G standalone network.

This involved a drone operating on a prioritised network slice, and a ground robot on another, with both machines protected with pre-emption capability to ensure mission-critical traffic takes priority. It also meant extremely precise tracking of responders and assets across terrain, obstacles and when moving.

This demonstrated our ability to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our first responders with a strong, prioritised 5G Standalone network and deterministic performance, protected capacity and precision position monitoring.

Optus achieves industry-leading 800GE trial across subsea and terrestrial paths

Working with Nokia, Optus achieved Asia’s first end-to-end 800GE service deployment across subsea distances, and Australia’s first integrated terrestrial-subsea protected architecture spanning approximately 4,700km.

“This industry leading innovation proves we can deliver subsea and terrestrial path diversity with automatic failover, meaning our customers' connections stay alive even when one route faces disruption. That's the resilience modern digital services require,” Optus Chief Technology Officer Sri Amirthalingam said.