Australian carrier TPG Telecom has entered into an agreement to acquire additional 5G spectrum holdings in the 3.6 GHz band from Dense Air.
Once the transaction is complete, TPG Telecom’s 3.6 GHz spectrum holdings will increase from the current 60 megahertz to 90 megahertz in Adelaide and 95 megahertz in Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.
In Sydney and Melbourne, TPG Telecom will acquire 5 megahertz of 3.6 GHz spectrum, increasing its holdings to 65 megahertz after the transaction.
“For our mobile and home wireless customers, this additional mid-band 5G spectrum will mean a significant boost in speeds through increased capacity,” TPG Telecom’s CEO Iñaki Berroeta said.
“As this spectrum is immediately adjacent to our existing 5G spectrum holdings, it can be deployed quickly and without significant cost,” the executive said.
TPG Telecom is rolling out its 5G network in major cities, targeting 85% population coverage in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra by the end of this year.
The transaction will involve a wholly owned subsidiary of TPG Telecom acquiring all the shares of an Australian subsidiary of Dense Air Limited, which holds 3.6 GHz spectrum licenses acquired in 2018. Subsidiaries of TPG Telecom and Dense Air Limited have also entered into a separate agreement under which TPG Telecom will sell its 2.6 GHz spectrum band licenses to Dense Air Networks.
Australia. Dense Air’s 3.6 GHz spectrum is a much better complement to TPG Telecom’s existing spectrum portfolio than the 2.6 GHz, while the 2.6 GHz offers Dense Air national spectrum which, along with Dense Air’s 26 GHz spectrum, better enables Dense Air’s neutral host model.
The agreements still need to receive approval by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The transactions are expected to complete in September 2021.
The mobile network owned by TPG Telecom currently provides services to Vodafone, TPG, iiNet, Lebara, felix and Kogan mobile customers.
Last month, Nokia and Australian carrier TPG Telecom announced that they had switched on a live 5G standalone (SA) network in Australia on the 700 MHz spectrum band.
Low band 5G coverage at 700 MHz, which is the lowest 5G frequency band deployed in Australia with the largest range, will enable TPG Telecom to provide wide outdoor 5G services, as well as deep indoor 5G coverage in urban and suburban areas to its customers, Nokia said.
Under the terms of the partnership, Nokia is supplying equipment from its latest ReefShark based AirScale product range including its triple band remote radio unit that supports 700 MHz, 850 MHz and 900 MHz bands. Nokia’s unit also supports 3G, 4G and 5G simultaneously across all TPG Telecom’s low-band frequencies.
TPG Telecom’s 5G SA service is already live in parts of Sydney
TPG Telecom was formed in 2019 through the merger of TPG and Vodafone Hutchison Australia. TPG Telecom had selected Nokia as its 5G equipment vendor in 2019 and that the deployment of its 5G network began in March 2020.
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