The Canadian company will use fixed wireless 5G equipment from U.S. firm PHAZR
Canadian operator TeraGo announced that it will be starting a technical trial in the greater Toronto area utilizing fixed wireless 5G millimeter wave equipment from PHAZR.
The trial will use TeraGo’s licensed spectrum in the 24 GHz frequency band. The company operates a national fixed wireless network with thousands of access points across Canada.
“As one of the largest holders of millimeter wave spectrum in Canada’s largest markets, TeraGo is committed to staying at the forefront of 5G technology to deliver innovative solutions to our customers and to open possible new market opportunities for the company,” said Tony Ciciretto, president and CEO of TeraGo.
PHAZR is a U.S.-based virtualized radio access network provider that offers 5G millimeter wave systems for licensed bands in the 24 to 40 GHz frequency range. PHAZR’s 5G portfolio is being tested by three major U.S. operators, according to the company.
“TeraGo is in a great position to be among the first to introduce 5G services to the Canadian market. Our equipment is proven in trials with top operators in the U.S. and Europe, and we are pleased to be supporting them in their efforts,” said Farooq Khan, CEO of PHAZR.
TeraGo owns and leases a national spectrum portfolio of 24GHz and 38GHz wide-area spectrum licenses including 2,120 megahertz of spectrum across Canada’s six largest cities. TeraGo provides businesses across Canada and internationally with cloud, colocation and connectivity services and serves over 3,000 business customers in 46 major markets across Canada including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
In June, the government of Canada confirmed plans to auction key wireless spectrum for the provision of 5G service in 2020. Canada’s Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said that the government will auction spectrum in the 600 MHz band next year. The government also has plans to award millimeter-wave spectrum in 2021.
However, local carrier Telus has called for the auction of 3.5 GHz spectrum in 2019. Telus’ CTO Ibrahim Gedeon said that Canadian consumers will be at a disadvantage if the government delays holding the auction of the 3,500 MHz spectrum until 2020.
In March this year, the governments of Canada, Québec and Ontario announced a $400 million initiative to develop a 5G corridor. Ericsson, Ciena, IBM, Thales and CGI are supporting the initiative, which joins previous public and private sector 5G-related projects in Canada.
The Canadian government has said that key use cases for the next-generation network technology include smart cities, healthcare, education, connected and autonomous vehicles, entertainment and media and the internet of things.
