Rogers Launches Canada’s First 5G Smart Campus in Vancouver

Rogers announced this morning Canada’s first 5G-enabled smart campus is now live at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver.

Both Rogers and UBC have been collaborating for 5G research and now 5G towers throughout the campus at Point Grey have been enabled for real-world testing by university researchers.

“With 5G at our doorstep, we’re focused on bringing together Canada’s brightest minds to research, incubate and commercialize applications that will transform the way we live and work,” said Jorge Fernandes, Chief Technology Officer, Rogers Communications, in an issued statement to iPhone in Canada. “Our work with UBC is helping design and test Canada’s 5G blueprint and today’s announcement is a critical milestone as we prepare our national network for commercial deployment in 2020.”

Back in 2018, Rogers announced it would help fund 5G application research at UBC in a three-year, multi-million dollar partnership.

Today new 5G research projects were announced, including earthquake and tsunami detection technology, digital mining technology to track autonomous trucks, and 5G Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to connect on-demand transportation options such as car-sharing, bike-sharing and more.



“Collaboration between universities and industry is critical to fully leverage the opportunities offered by 5G,” said Dr. Gail Murphy, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, UBC. “Our partnership with Rogers builds on the strength of UBC’s campus as a living lab – providing students with opportunities to build the skills for tomorrow and supporting faculty research on 5G-based solutions to significant local and global challenges.”

Rogers says it continues to test 5G in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, while upgrading its existing 4.5G network with 5G-ready technology from partner Ericsson, the “North American 5G partner of choice,” ahead of deployment in 2020.

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