Telstra and Ericsson have commercially deployed the AIR 3284, the world’s first 5G radio to integrate triple-band Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) Massive MIMO into a single unit. The deployment marks a major milestone in Telstra’s four-year mobile network transformation initiative and delivers a significant performance upgrade in coverage, capacity, and efficiency across urban and regional Australia.
The AIR 3284 leverages Telstra’s spectrum holdings in Bands 1 (2100MHz), 3 (1800MHz), and 7 (2600MHz) to maximize throughput using Massive MIMO technology. The radio offers up to double the downlink capacity and up to triple the uplink capacity compared to previous solutions. It also enables more precise beamforming, which improves signal strength and user experience, particularly at the cell edge. The upgrade alleviates low-band congestion and enhances capacity in the midband, which supports Telstra’s broader 5G TDD (3.6GHz) deployment.
Early rollouts are live in Brisbane and set to expand to Melbourne, with Ericsson citing strong performance and energy efficiency gains. For consumers, AIR 3284 translates to faster mobile speeds and improved indoor and edge coverage. For enterprises, it enables scalable support for applications like smart manufacturing, connected vehicles, and mission-critical IoT.
• AIR 3284 is the first commercial 5G radio with Massive MIMO across 1800/2100/2600 MHz bands
• Enables 2x downlink and 3x uplink capacity improvements
• Enhances Telstra’s midband TDD performance by easing low-band congestion
• Supports Telstra’s four-year network transformation to 5G Advanced
• Already deployed in Brisbane; expansion to Melbourne underway
“This deployment is a milestone not only for Telstra, but for the telecom industry,” said Ludvig Landgren, Head of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand. “By integrating Massive MIMO into three critical FDD bands, we’re delivering a future-ready radio that will help Telstra set new benchmarks in speed, experience, and network intelligence.”
