4G and 5G DAS for MLC Centre

4G and 5G DAS at 25 Martin Place, Sydney

Customers at Dexus’ 25 Martin Place (formerly the MLC Centre) in Sydney are now enjoying a world-class mobile experience thanks to the new Distributed Antenna System (DAS) that covers the entire precinct. The system was designed and installed entirely by the Wireless Coverage Solutions in-house team.

Having recently completed multiple stages of the redevelopment, with the grand reopening of Sydney’s Theatre Royal followed by the redevelopment of the Retail Precinct extending Sydney premium retail strip and finally a redevelopment of the Food Court, 25 Martin Place is a great place to work and play while being always connected.

The project required close collaboration between Wireless Coverage Solutions and the Sydney Telstra team as lead carrier to enable them to activate the system and provide coverage throughout the building in a phased approach. This approach enabled improved coverage for the building’s customers promptly, where it was needed most. The Commercial Tower was commissioned in 2020 while the other precincts were under development, with those areas being progressively commissioned up til May 2023.

mlc das, 4G and 5G DAS for MLC Centre
The grand foyer of the recently opened Sydney Theatre Royal
mlc das, 4G and 5G DAS for MLC Centre
The new DAS Covered Food and Beverage portion of the retail precinct

The solution comprises a Hybrid DAS providing coverage from basements up to Level 67 of the commercial tower and throughout the retail, theatre and food court precincts. Although designed in 2019, Optus has now deployed 5G services on the DAS, demonstrating the upgrade path potential of such systems when designed appropriately.

The system is one of the largest deployed in the Australian commercial property sector, boasting a whopping 890 DAS antennas, 16 Sets of Active DAS Remotes, and 18km of Coaxial cable.

The system is configured with 9 sectors across the precinct, the equivalent capacity of 3 large outdoor towers you would see providing coverage to entire suburbs. This provides for not only the precinct’s capacity needs for today but well into the future.

mlc das, 4G and 5G DAS for MLC Centre
One of 16 remote units installed throughout the precinct
mlc das, 4G and 5G DAS for MLC Centre
The Commscope Hybrid DAS headend combining all operators for outbound distribution over fibre

Capacity is everything when you have one of the country’s busiest lunchtime food courts. For this reason, the 25 Martin Place food court boasts a MIMO DAS system, delivering measured speeds up to 480Mbps if you get in for an early morning coffee. Day to day this capacity will be distributed across the many people who flock to the the food court on the regular. We expect to see some deployments from other operators including 5G elements easily in the 700-800Mbps+ ranges

mlc das, 4G and 5G DAS for MLC Centre
Telstra 4G Speedtest on MIMO DAS within the Foodcourt
mlc das, 4G and 5G DAS for MLC Centre
Optus 5G tests conducted in the Commercial Tower on a SISO DAS system

“I am very proud of the whole WCS team for the way they delivered the DAS solution. It was a great team effort. The co-operation with Dexus and Telstra was fantastic, ensuring there were no disruptions to the customers or the daily operation of the building.” – Chris Carr MD of Wireless Coverage Solutions.