Canadian telecommunications services provider TeraGo announced that it will start technical trials in the greater Toronto area and greater Golden Horseshoe area in the first quarter of 2020, using fixed wireless 5G millimeter wave equipment from Nokia.
The trials will be conducted on the 24 and 38 GHz frequency bands using both ISED developmental licenses and TeraGo’s owned licensed spectrum. Customer trials are then planned to begin in the second quarter of 2020, the Canadian company said.
“International momentum for 5G fixed wireless services has been increasing and as a global leader in 5G technology, Nokia’s equipment is at the center of many of these networks deployments”, said Tony Ciciretto, president and CEO of TeraGo. “In Canada , TeraGo is uniquely positioned to be one of the first operators to launch commercial 5G fixed wireless services as the largest holder of millimeter wave spectrum in the largest urban markets. The ultra-high bandwidth and low latency capabilities offered by 5G will allow us to deliver new innovative communications solutions to our customers, improve the efficiency of our network, and open new market opportunities for the company.”
TeraGo’s fixed wireless spectrum assets include 14 of 20 licenses issued in the 24 GHz band and 25 of 27 licenses issued in the 38 GHz band, covering 2,210 megahertz of spectrum in Canada’s six largest cities. The Company’s national fixed wireless network is supported by a redundant fiber optic backbone with approximately 600 rooftops across Canada, the company added. TeraGo manages over 3,000 cloud workloads, operates five data centers in the greater Toronto Area , the greater Vancouver Area , and Kelowna, and it owns and manages its own IP network. The company said that it serves business customers in major markets across Canada including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa and Winnipeg.
Stephan Litjens , GM for Nokia Digital Automation, said: “We are delighted to see Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (Nokia DAC) and mmWave equipment chosen for testing on 5G networks in Canada . We look forward to incorporating our expertise from our numerous deployments around the globe and are excited to be partnering with TeraGo to deliver on the advancements that come from 5G.”
Last week, Samsung Electronics announced that it will provide 4G LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and 5G radio access networks solutions to Videotron, a Canadian telecommunications operator.
Videotron plans to launch commercial LTE-A and 5G services in Canada in late 2020.
Starting in early 2020, Samsung will deliver 4G LTE-A solutions across Quebec and Ottawa. Samsung’s solution include Massive MIMO and dual-band base stations, supporting the operator’s 4G LTE frequencies, and 5G solutions for both 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz spectrum.
