Canada is not under the same pressure as other countries to shift to 5G because of its exceptional 4G mobile experience, according to a recent report from OpenSignal.
The report states that Canadians already benefit from 4G network speeds, lower latency and greater 4G available than most countries, which is why it doesn’t require the move to 5G as much as other countries do.
However, once Canadian carriers do launch 5G, researchers believe that it will be able to surpass many countries that launched 5G early.
“When Canadian carriers launch 5G, they should be able to leapfrog many countries that launched 5G early, like the U.S., and move straight to standalone 5G, which will be more efficient than non-standalone 5G because it has a totally new radio access network and core network and isn’t reliant upon legacy 4G technology,” the report reads.
The report also outlines that the lack of available spectrum that is required to deploy 5G services is one of the reasons that Canada will be unable to shift to 5G as quickly as other countries.
Although the government recently auctioned its 600 MHz spectrum to operators, these channels need to be cleared before operators are able to deploy their networks. During the auction, 12 companies including Telus and Rogers got hold of 600 MHz spectrum licences.
Additionally, operators are still waiting for the government to auction its 3.5GHz spectrum for 5G deployment but that won’t happen until an unannounced period in 2020.
The next generation of the wireless network is likely not coming to Canada until 2021 at the earliest, and even then some decisions in the space have not been made, including whether Huawei will participate in the rollout.
Source: OpenSignal
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