Canadian operator Telus said the 5G trial with Huawei produced network speeds of 29.3 Gbps, though details on spectrum and technology remain light.
Canadian telecom operator Telus is the latest from north of the border to get in on the “5G” trial craze, announcing work with Huawei that resulted in posted wireless network speeds of 29.3 gigabits per second.
Telus said the trials were conducted at the 5G Living Lab in Vancouver, British Columbia, with both companies claiming to have been trialling next-generation wireless technologies in a “live, real-world setting” since late last year. Telus, in fact, said customers in the Vancouver area “will have early access to some of the most cutting-edge wireless technologies in the world,” though gave no specific time frame.
The announcement was also a bit light on specifics in terms of the actual 5G trial, leaving out any mention of which aspects of the technology were used or which spectrum bands were part of the test. Telus did note it had upgraded a current LTE-enabled site with LTE-Advanced Pro technologies designed to support network speeds up to 1 Gbps, with plans to upgrade five more sites “in the coming weeks.”
The lack of detail could be on purpose as carrier comments associated with the Huawei announcement were subdued.
“While we innovate towards the future of wireless standards with our 5G live trial, our feet are firmly rooted in the present; the Living Lab will allow us to deploy continuously faster and more reliable network technologies for our customers in real time,” said Eros Spadotto, EVP of technology strategy at Telus. “We’re still in the early days of determining what the deployment of 5G will look like, but what we do know is that it will be a quantum leap forward in wireless technology and the foundation of future innovations.”
Telus did note its 5G plans will build on the $1 billion of investment into fiber it claims to be making in the Vancouver area as part of its PureFiber network.
“The PureFiber network will provide nearly limitless capacity to support the highly efficient, reliable and blazing-fast wireless speeds 5G will enable for customers, heightening the importance of Telus’ fiber investments across Canada,” the company stated.
Bell Canada, which is a network partner with Telus, recently announced a successful 5G technology trial with Nokia. The demonstration was said to have occurred at the carrier’s Wireless Innovation Center in Mississauga, Ontario, tapping into spectrum across the 73 GHz band in providing “sustained data speeds more than six-times faster than top 4G mobile speeds now available in Canada.” Bell Canada currently touts that its LTE-A network produces downlink speeds of between 12 megabits per second and 100 Mbps.
Bell said it expects 5G technology to be “widely available” within the next five to seven years, with the technology providing faster network speeds and increased capacity to support broadcast video and the “internet of things.”
A number of U.S.-based carriers also have begun trialling 5G technology, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile US and Sprint. Similar to Bell, Sprint has worked with network partners on using the 73 GHz band in support of the trials.
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