Canadian telecommunications services provider TeraGo announced that 5G technical trials in the greater Toronto Area have started at TeraGo’s Thornhill head office location, utilizing 5G fixed wireless network equipment from Nokia.
In a release, the company said that initial testing will be in the 38 GHz frequency band using developmental licenses.
TeraGo will also be utilizing customer premise equipment from Askey Computer in support of these initial trials, which are expected to be carried out over the next several weeks. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, customer trials are planned to begin in the second half of 2020, the company said.
“We are seeing the continued evolution of 5G network technology, which is expected to deliver significantly enhanced performance,” said Tony Ciciretto, president and CEO of TeraGo. “Interoperability testing of network and CPE equipment in real world environments is a critical step in enabling this transition.
“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,” he added.
“By collaborating with 5G vertical market solution partners, we are at the forefront of 5G mmWave CPE development serving primarily North America, among other global markets,” said Askey’s CEO Robert Lin.
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 MHz 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.
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.
Other Canadian telcos are paving the way for 5G launches in 2020. Bell Canada expects to start the construction of its 5G network this year, using equipment from Nokia, the company’s CEO Mirko Bibic previously said in a conference call with investors.
Bell confirmed it is ready to deliver initial 5G services in urban areas across Canada as soon as next generation smartphones become commercially available.
The executive said that Bell will continue to enhance 5G access speeds, capacity and coverage as additional 5G wireless spectrum, including in the 3.5 GHz band, becomes available this year through the federal government’s spectrum auction process.
Bibic said that the award 3.5GHz spectrum will allow local telcos to launch real 5G technology in 2021.
Rival operator Rogers Communications has already begun rolling out 5G network in select cities around Canada using equipment from Swedish vendor Ericsson.
Rogers’ initial 5G cities are Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. The telco said that it will eventually expand into over 20 more markets by the end of 2020.
Rogers said it expects to start deploying spectrum sharing technology later this year with the aim of using its current 4G spectrum for the provision of 5G.
