Rogers and Ericsson commits 5G testing in multiple cities

Rogers has announced a multi-year network plan that includes working with Ericsson, a North American leader in 5G deployment for 5G testing in multiple cities including Toronto and Ottawa.

Jorge Fernandes, Chief Technology Officer, Rogers Communications said, “We’re setting the table to lead on 5G with the right infrastructure, spectrum, partners and investments, so we’re ready when the ecosystem is ready. Ericsson has helped pioneer the 5G infrastructure across North America, so we couldn’t think of a better company to support the reliable and consistent network that our customers will use today and in the future with the performance and consistency they expect from us.”

At Rogers Centre, the companies demonstrated multiple live 5G examples as a part of Rogers 5G testing program. Participants wore virtual reality (VR) glasses to toss a baseball back and forth, virtually shopped in a retail store, and controlled robots with real-time responsiveness. Rogers also demonstrated Quad-band Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) on Gigabit LTE to show how LAA provides high bandwidth, simultaneously across several devices.

“The future of our businesses, our industries and our daily lives will be impacted by 5G, led by innovative service providers like Rogers. Rogers is taking a significant leap forward today and we are very excited about the opportunity to jointly develop innovative services and new customer experiences,” said Niklas Heuveldop, Head of Market Area North America, Ericsson.

5G will open up a whole new world, a world that moves beyond connecting people to connecting machines and mass connectivity through the Internet of Things (IoT). Not just about speed, fifth generation wireless technology will deliver always-on reliability and real-time connectivity. With ultra-low latency, the lag between sending a request and the network responding will theoretically drop to one millisecond, 400 times faster than the blink of an eye. This allows for a massive increase in the number of connected devices and a range of applications that require quick responsiveness, like driverless cars, virtual reality and low-power IoT innovations for smart cities.

Rogers network plan includes the continued rollout of its Gigabit LTE network with technology and equipment that is based on the latest global 3GPP standards, including 4×4 MIMO, four-carrier aggregation and 256 QAM. The company will boost and densify its network with small cells and macro sites across the country. Working with Ericsson, Rogers will trial 5G in Toronto and Ottawa, in addition to select cities over the next year.