This winter saw next-generation wireless service become available to Canadians across the country, with Bell, Rogers, TELUS and Videotron all operating 5G networks, and Shaw and Xplornet announcing plans for 5G rollouts later this year.

Although Canada’s initial 5G deployments focused on adding 5G radios to existing 4G infrastructure, Rogers also launched standalone 5G networks in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver last December.

On December 15, Videotron announced Montreal as the starting point for its commercial 5G rollout, with plans to expand the service throughout Quebec. Videotron’s 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) will be provided by Samsung and cover the 600MHz, 700MHz, 2.6GHz and AWS bands.

On December 8, rural-focused provider Xplornet announced that it will use Ericsson equipment to bring 5G wireless broadband to non-urban parts of Canada beginning this summer. Calgary’s Shaw Communications, meanwhile, announced during a January 13 conference call with Canadian telecom analysts that it should begin deploying its 5G own network by March 2021.

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