Optus Signs Up to Use Corporate Wireless Service

Australia's Optus has entered into a partnership with Personal Broadband Australia to provide mobile broadband internet access to corporate customers. Using Personal Broadband's iBurst technology, Optus is now in a position to offer wireless broadband services to 70% of Australian businesses.

"iBurst supplements Optus' existing WiFi and 2.5G capability and will complement future 3G offerings by delivering a service that enables connectivity to laptops, leveraging the power of mobility." John Simon, Acting Managing Director, Optus Business said.

The iBurst mobile broadband solution enables secure high-speed wireless access to both virtual private networks and the internet. iBurst currently operates at speeds of up to 1 Mbps per second, with 2 Mbps scheduled for later this year. The network also enables connections to be maintained on the move so users can reach time-critical information at a moments notice while commuting.

Personal Broadband has coverage already switched on in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The company also owns spectrum in Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and Darwin and plans to provide coverage to 95 per cent of Australia's business population.

Today's partnership announcement with Personal Broadband follows the unveiling of Optus' 3G network in Canberra last month.

Optus continues discussions with other players in the consumer wireless space. It is also currently working on two wireless broadband trials - one for consumers (with partner UTStarcom) and one for businesses (with partner Siemens).

iBurst is based on IntelliCell technology which was developed by ArrayComm based in San Jose California USA. IntelliCell's fully adaptive smart antenna technology dynamically adjusts signal patterns to and from each subscriber, creating a "personal cell" for efficient delivery of voice or data services. These personal cells follow people as they move, reducing radio interference.

Unlike IntelliCell equipped-base stations, conventional base stations transmit energy in all directions. The result is that only a small fraction of the signal reaches the intended subscriber. The rest of the RF energy is wasted and generates noise that interferes with other users in the system.

With IntelliCell, each base station uses a small array of off-the shelf antennas coupled with ArrayComm's signal processing techniques to dynamically control radio signals between the base station and the user terminal. The signal processing selectively amplifies each user's intended signal and rejects all unwanted signals, allowing greater numbers of users to share the spectrum."

Posted to the site on 31st May 2005