Chinese vendor Huawei has partnered with Canadian telecommunications operator TELUS on an urban trial of 5G wireless-to-the-home service using customer premise equipment (CPE). It has been claimed that the innovative trial is the first of its kind in North America and among the first globally.
The trials which commenced in December 2017 have been conducted at the 5G Living Lab in Vancouver which was established by both Huawei and TELUS in 2015. Tests have also been carried out in the homes of TELUS employees based in Vancouver using 5G 3GPP mmWave tests the companies conducted in June.
The companies issued a joint-statement in which they claimed that the initial applications had achieved single-user download speeds of more than 2GBPS.
TELUS CTO, Ibrahim Gedeon said the tests represented another progressive step towards the commercialization and deployment of 5G services in North America.
He said, "This trial represents continued progress toward the launch of 5G, as we start to replicate both the in-home experience and network footprint we will see when 5G becomes commercially available in the near future. Wireless 5G services will generate tremendous benefits for consumers, operators, governments and more through the use of advanced IoT devices, big data applications, smart city systems and other technologies of the future."
In addition to the 5G in-home equipment, the network utilizes the 5G gNodeB and related elements built as part of the TELUS and Huawei 5G living lab. The trial system operates on the 28GHz mmwave band with 800 MHz of bandwidth and includes 3GPP key technologies, such as Massive MIMO, F-OFDM, and Polar Code.
Representatives from both Huawei and TELUS have claimed that 5G-capable wireless solutions have the potential to complement fiber-to-the-home solutions by providing an alternative ‘last mile’ solution consumer and business services. Analysts have predicted that the ability to deploy 5G wireless solutions in both urban and suburban environments will help reduce costs for operators whilst increasing accessibility of 5G for end customers.
CTO of Huawei Wireless, Dr. Wen Tong declared that mmWave technology will be a key component in facilitating and executing the deployment and subsequent commercialization of 5G technology in Canada.
He said, "mmWave technology will be an important tool in ensuring widespread deployment of 5G technology in Canada. Huawei’s 5G solutions and terminals will enable 5G coverage over a neighborhood or small community cost effectively, while providing more convenient and high-speed home broadband Internet access services. This friendly user trial will drive the global 3GPP unified 5G standard and build a solid foundation for the 5G early commercialization."
