Canada has begun the first 5G deployment with networks being turned on in four cities.
Canadian telecom Rogers Communications has started rolling out 5G networks to Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and plans to expand to more than 20 markets by the end of 2020.
“5G is the biggest technological evolution since the launch of wireless in Canada. We are making the right investments, building the right partnerships and deploying the right technology to bring Canadians the very best of 5G,” said Joe Natale, president and CEO of Rogers Communications, in a statement. “5G will not only power businesses, it will fuel entire industries and drive Canada’s digital future.”
Rogers said its network will initially use a 2.5 GHz spectrum in the downtown areas of the cities and will expand to use 600 MHz 5G spectrum later this year. The 600 MHz spectrum is suited to carry wireless data across long distances and through dense urban buildings for smart cities and remote areas. Future deployments will include a 3.5 GHz spectrum roll out and dynamic spectrum sharing, which will allow 4G spectrum to be used for 5G.
Rogers said that 1G technology allowed mobile phone calls, 2G enabled text messaging, 3G powered email and internet browsing, 4G delivered faster speeds and 5G will transform industries with increased speed and capacity, improved battery life and lower latency. This will increase the number of connected devices as well as increase use cases for augmented and virtual reality, smart cities, remote healthcare, robotics and autonomous vehicles.
Ericsson was chosen by Rogers for the 5G network equipment and the company invested $9 billion in spectrum licenses and more than $30 billion overall in its wireless networks since 1985.