Tag: 5G

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Mobile Syrup

Xplornet launches Canada’s first-ever rural 5G standalone network

Xplornet Communications is launching a rural 5G standalone network — the first of its kind in Canada, according to the press release.

The network will be built using technology from multinational telecom giant Ericsson, in a partnership that the rural-focused internet service provider (ISP) made public back in December 2020.

Ericsson is also the technology supplier for Bell, Rogers and Telus’ respective cross-country 5G network rollouts.

Xplornet says its new 5G network will begin offering fixed wireless broadband services to residents of New Brunswick — where the company itself is headquartered — over the next six months.

While based in Atlantic Canada itself, Xplornet offers internet services to rural areas in provinces across the country.

For example, in September 13th, the ISP announced it had acquired Swift High Speed, a rural broadband provider located in Manitoba.

Source: Xplornet

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers, Telus and Bell named global leaders in 5G gaming by Opensignal

Rogers, Telus and Bell are among the best in the world at providing players reliable 5G network connections for smooth mobile gaming experiences, according to independent analytics company Opensignal.

The telecom giants each took home a “Global Leader” distinction at Opensignal’s 2021 5G Global Mobile Network Experience Awards, with all three scoring above the global average of 76.7 points out of a possible 100 in the “5G Games Experience” category.

Points are earned by measuring network conditions that affect mobile gaming for players, such as “latency, packet loss and jitter.”

Among the Canadian carriers, Rogers led with 86.4 points, followed closely by Telus with 83 and Bell with 83.5.

The seven winners in the “5G Games Experience” category were South Korea’s KT, SK Telecom and LG U+, the Netherlands’ T-Mobile and KPN, Singapore’s Singtel, and Ireland’s Vodafone.

Rogers, Telus and Bell were also recognized in the “Games Experience — 5G Global Impact” category, which measures the improvement in games experience between a carrier’s 5G network versus its 4G network.

In this category, Rogers came out ahead of its Canadian competitors, with Opensignal noting a 17.2 percent improvement between the carrier’s 5G vs. 4G gaming experience, while Telus (13.8 percent) and Bell (13.4 percent) were once again closely ranked.

For context, the global average score for the “Games Experience — 5G Global Impact” category is only 8.2 percent.

Still, “5G Games Experience” and “Games Experience” were the sole categories in which Canada-based telecom companies were recognized.

The other seven categories — with no Canadian winners — were “5G Availability,” “5G Download Speed,” “5G Upload Speed,” “5G Video Experience,” “Download Speed,” “Upload Speed,” and “Video Experience.”

To see if your own 5G internet service is up to snuff, Opensignal released an app in May 2021 that lets users independently check whether they’re actually connected to a 5G network.

Source: Opensignal

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s iPhone 13 could continue pushing 5G adoption in Canada: report

Apple’s iPhone 13 and 13 Pro models are set to push the adoption of 5G-capable phones in Canada, especially as we head into the holiday season.

According to observations from Counterpoint Research, Apple devices continue to account for more than half of total smartphones sold in Canada. Further, Counterpoint notes that the iPhone has been a major driver for 5G penetration among wireless subscribers.

As we head into Q4 2021, the holiday season and related promotional events will likely drive sales. Although it’s rare to see promotions on the latest iPhones, there will likely be deals on last year’s 5G-capable iPhone 12 line, furthering the adoption of 5G devices. Counterpoint notes that in Q4 2020, Apple accounted for 60 percent of the total smartphone market in Canada and 64 percent of all 5G-enabled smartphones sold in Canada that quarter.

Further, looking at 2020 as a whole, Q4 alone accounts for 78 percent of 5G smartphone sales and 34 percent of total smartphones sold in Canada.

While data from last year could indicate how sales will play out this year, Counterpoint also offers several… counterpoints for why things could play out differently this year. Factors like extended travel restrictions reducing immigration and international students or more moderate spending from Canadians as government support begins to run out.

Counterpoint also highlights the mmWave issue. If you’re not familiar with it, the short version is the iPhone 13 models won’t support mmWave 5G outside the U.S. That shouldn’t be a significant dealbreaker for Canadians, since currently, no carriers offer mmWave 5G. Moreover, Canadian carriers’ 5G offerings barely count as 5G, and won’t until they start deploying 3,500MHz spectrum in the coming months and years. You can learn more about that here.

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Mobile Syrup

SaskTel erects 10 new cell towers, completes $107 million wireless project

Saskatchewan’s crown-owned telecommunications company is celebrating the completion of a $107 million initiative to connect the province with wireless internet.

The four-year “Wireless Saskatchewan” project, launched by SaskTel in 2017, officially concluded on September 10th, 2021, with the completion of a final set of macro cell towers.

According to a press release, the 10 newly-launched towers will offer faster 4G LTE service to the communities of Aberdeen (South), Candle Lake, Carrot River (East), East Fairwell, Kuroki, Makwa, Marean Lake, Mount Pleasant, Prince Albert (East), and Shaunavon (Southeast).

SaskTel previously launched 15 new towers in March 2021, servicing the regions of Burnham, Clayridge, Crescent Lake, Duncairn, Filion Lake, Frenchman Butte, Great Deer, Keppel, Kessock, Main Centre, Meacham (East), Murphy Creek, Parkerview, Sokal, and Worcester.

In total, there are now 1,000 SaskTel towers erected across the province.

With the initiative complete, SaskTel announced its next project is bringing 5G internet service to rural Saskatchewan.

To achieve this goal, the province plans on investing $323 million in 2021-2023, and over $1.4 billion over the next five years, to launch its 5G network.

Source: SaskTel

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Mobile Syrup

Telus to expand 5G to Greater Montreal regions in $90 million investment

Vancouver-based national telecom Telus announced plans to expand its 5G network to the Montreal, Lanaudière, Laurentides and Montérégie regions.

The expansion comes as part of a larger $90 million investment in infrastructure in the Greater Montreal area, itself part of a $9 billion investment in Quebec through 2024. Through the expansion, Telus says that customers in over 70 additional communities will have access to its 5G network.

“The significant investments we are making in our world-leading network to rapidly expand our 5G footprint is enabling us to connect the citizens of the Greater Montreal to the people, resources and critical information they need as we continue to navigate the global pandemic,” said Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of Telus.

Telus notes that it leverages multiple vendors, including Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia to power its 5G network. The carrier says it plans to expand 5G to over 615 communities, including 157 in Quebec, and aims to cover over 70 percent of the Canadian population by the end of the year.

Interestingly, Telus also cited an Opensignal report that gave the carrier several awards, including Fastest 5G Download and Upload Speeds, Best 5G Video Experience, Best 5G Availability and more. However, it’s worth noting that Telus tied with Bell and, sometimes, Rogers in several of those sectors. Additionally, Opensignal’s most recent 5G experience report showed Rogers breaking away from the three-way ties to claim the best 5G Availability and Reach, although Bell and Telus retained their lead in download speeds.

Source: Telus