Canada’s Shaw Communications said this week it had completed its first 5G tech trials in Calgary, which focused on comparing signals using both 28 GHz millimeter wave and 3.5 GHz spectrum and to better understand the interoperability between those two bands.
The tests, held at Shaw’s Barlow Campus Technology Center in Calgary, was conducted with Nokia, CableLabs and Rohde & Schwarz using pre-commercial equipment.
The work in the 28 GHz band came way of developmental licenses provided by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the operator said. Shaw has plans for additional tech trials in the coming months as it tests the emerging 5G ecosystem and moves on improving performance on its LTE-Advanced network.
“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 COO and CTO Zoran Stakic, said in a statement.
“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,” added CableLabs SVP and CTO Ralph Brown.
