“The companies kicked off their partnership with live demonstrations of 5G technology at the Rogers Centre sports stadium in Toronto…”

Rogers, one of Canada’s biggest telecommunications companies, has entered into a multi-year partnership with Ericsson to collaborate on 5G technology.

In a statement announcing the partnership, the companies said they would continue to roll out Gigabit LTE network technology based in 3GPP standards, “including 4×4 MIMO, four-carrier aggregation and 256 QAM.” The companies also said they would conduct 5G trials in Toronto, Ottawa, and other Canadian cities “over the next year.”

Rogers will lead those efforts, with Ericsson’s role in the partnership one that is more broadly concerned with establishing the necessary infrastructure. As Rogers CTO Jorge Fernandes explained in the companies’ announcement, “Ericsson has helped pioneer the 5G infrastructure across North America, so we couldn’t think of a better company to support the reliable and consistent network that our customers will use today and in the future”.

The companies kicked off their partnership with live demonstrations of 5G technology at the Rogers Centre sports stadium in Toronto, including a VR game of catch, robot piloting, and quad-band Licensed Assisted Access over Gigabit LTE.

The partnership points to growing 5G activity in Canada, with Rogers rival Telus having worked with Huawei on a 5G pilot project last year. For Ericsson, the Rogers partnership solidifies its already strong foothold in the global 5G market, in which it is establishing itself as a key player.