Optus completes Australia's first 5G drone flight

Optus teamed up with Ericsson to deliver Australia’s first 5G teleoperated drone controlled over a live 5G network. The flight was completed at the Optus HQ in Macquarie Park with the drone simultaneously transmitting HD video through a 5G handset over the live Optus 5G network. Illustrating one of the many future 5G capabilities, the flight also demonstrated how the drone can identify and track objects using 5G connection, which could play a crucial role in enabling drones to fly beyond the visual line of sight.

Customers are already benefitting from the Optus 5G network with 5G Home and 5G Mobile, and the Australia first 5G drone flight provides a glimpse into the future possibilities that 5G technology could enable. The network will continue to be rolled out in selected areas in the coming months, with future innovations such as the drone flight being utilised thanks to 5G supporting these ideas via a crucial mix of ultra-high reliability and low latency. Optus 5G will not only deliver customers with the benefits of 5G, but it will also support a growing number of the 5G innovations of tomorrow and beyond.

In the future, 5G technology has the potential to use drones to provide video surveillance, real-time streaming and real-time intelligence to a remotely located operator from locations where line of sight is not possible, such as in dangerous, remote or inaccessible areas.

Optus 5G not available in NT or TAS.