Telus and Ericsson have successfully launched a coast-to-coast 5G standalone (5G SA) network. This network, powered by Ericsson’s cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core solution, is set to offer Canadians enhanced 5G services characterized by ultra-low latency and increased speeds.
“It’s a big moment for both Telus and Ericsson as we celebrate the enhancement of their standalone 5G network across Canada,” said Jeanette Irekvist, President of Ericsson Canada, in a statement to iPhone in Canada.
The 5G SA network promises reduced latency, improved efficiency, optimized spectrum utilization, and enhanced reliability. This leap forward opens doors to more applications ranging from IoT and enterprise solutions to public safety enhancements. The network’s capabilities are also crucial for future innovations like connected cars, cloud gaming, and virtual/augmented reality experiences.
“Our new standalone network provides never-before-seen speeds and low latency to enable the next generation of 5G edge computing and IoT technologies for entire industries and organizations,” said Jerome Birot, Vice-president of Platform Technology & Services at Telus Networks, in a statement.
A key feature of the 5G SA network is its support for network slicing, allowing Telus and its customers to allocate specific network segments for distinct use cases. This feature is set to empower Canadian businesses to fully leverage the power of 5G.
Back in June 2020, Telus announced it had selected Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia for building out its 5G network. Along with Bell, both companies started finding new 5G hardware partners, as their existing Huawei network was in jeopardy due to the federal government’s indecision to ban the Chinese company’s hardware or not (two years later, Huawei 5G was banned).
Ericsson also powers the 5G SA core network for other telcos, including Rogers, while the company’s hardware also supports Eastlink’s 5G network. Rogers blamed an Ericsson software update for causing its infamous 2021 nationwide network outage.
