Canada’s Rogers Communications announced that it is starting to roll out a 5G mobile network in downtown Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, in readiness for mass 5G device availability later this year. Rogers’ 5G network will expand to more than 20 additional markets by the end of the year, its press release added. 5G services will be available exclusively to users of Rogers ‘Infinite’ plans with unlimited data and no overage fees. The company also announced it is the exclusive Canadian member of the global 5G Future Forum, a new 5G and mobile edge computing forum that includes Verizon, Vodafone, Telstra, KT Corp and America Movil.
The Rogers 5G network will initially use 2.5GHz spectrum in the downtown cores of Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and will expand to use 600MHz 5G spectrum later this year. The 600MHz band is suited to carrying wireless data across long distances and through dense urban buildings, creating more consistent and higher quality coverage in both remote areas and cities. In the future, Rogers will also deploy 3.5GHz 5G spectrum and dynamic spectrum sharing, which will allow 4G frequencies to be used for 5G. Rogers’ CEO Joe Natale declared: ‘5G will not only power businesses, it will fuel entire industries and drive Canada’s digital future.’
Rogers is partnering Ericsson to upgrade and densify its network with 4.5G and 5G technologies, continuing a partnership with the Swedish vendor dating back to 1985.