Shaw announced this morning it successfully conducted its first 5G technical trials in Calgary, along with partners Nokia, CableLabs and Rohde & Schwarz. The company said the trials leveraged “leveraged 28GHz mmWave and 3.5GHz spectrum and demonstrated the significant and sustained speeds for the next generation of wireless technology.”
Zoran Stakic, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer, Shaw Communications, said in an emailed statement to iPhone in Canada, “We are pleased that our first trials have been a resounding success, and through our partnerships with best-in-class industry leaders we will work to better understand 5G’s strengths and capabilities while continuing to invest in our network to offer Canadians a new era of strong and sustainable competition for the next generation of wireless technologies.”
Shaw says the 5G trials were tested at the company’s Shaw’s Barlow Campus Technology Centre in Calgary with pre-commercial equipment. Tests included comparative testing between both 28GHz and 3.5GHz spectrum—seen as vital for 5G—to better understand interoperability of both bands.
“We are delighted to partner with Shaw on their 5G trials, bringing our technology and extensive industry expertise of working with customers all over the world on the design and testing of 5G solutions.” said Marc Rouanne, President of Mobile Networks, Nokia.
Ralph Brown, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, CableLabs, added “The learnings from this field trial, together with the cross-industry collaboration on this and other cable industry 5G trials, ensure that Shaw and the rest of the industry are well positioned to use their fibre and HFC infrastructure to advance 5G on a broad scale.”
According to Shaw, more 5G technical trials will continue in the coming months, as part of the company’s commitment to improve their LTE-A network performance.
Incumbent wireless carriers have also successfully tested 5G trials as well, with Rogers partnering with Ericsson, while Telus and Bell are working with Chinese company Huawei for their 5G trials.
