Rogers Communications has officially deployed Canada’s first commercial 5G networks. The networks are being introduced in the respective downtown cores of Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, and in several of the country’s largest sports and concert venues. The list includes the Rogers Centre and the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, and Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

The deployments represent the continuation of Rogers’ 35-year partnership with Ericsson. The telecommunications giant is the sole supplier of the 5G radio access network (RAN) and 5G core (5GC) technology that was used to deliver the Rogers network. At the moment, the network uses the 2.5 GHz band, though that will expand to 600 MHz 5G spectrum as Rogers expands to more markets in the months ahead. Rogers also plans to leverage its existing 4G spectrum for 5G through the use of the Ericsson Spectrum Sharing solution.

“5G will provide the agility, programmability, flexibility, and scale to address growing consumer and enterprise demands,” said Ericsson North America Head of Networks Kevin Zvokel. “This functionality will improve customer experience and support the development of compelling new services.”

For its part, Rogers indicated that it is allying with institutions like the University of British Columbia and the University of Waterloo to accelerate commercial 5G development in Canada.

“Recently, we partnered with the City of Kelowna to help launch Canada’s first 5G smart city solution in a live, downtown environment,” said Rogers CTO Jorge Fernandes. “This will serve as a blueprint for the development of 5G smart city technology and we will continue to bring this technology to Canadians.”

Rogers and Ericsson first announced that they would be collaborating on a 5G network back in 2018. Ericsson has since revealed that it will also be providing the RAN technology for a rival 5G network from Bell Canada. The Swedish company is now supporting 40 live 5G networks in 22 countries around the world.