Rogers has partnered with the University of Waterloo to create the first 5G smart campus in central Canada.
The Toronto-based national carrier said in a press release that the “multimillion-dollar partnership” aims to advance 5G research in the Toronto-Waterloo tech corridor.
“We are incredibly proud to partner with the University of Waterloo to bring the very best in 5G research and innovation to Canada and Canadians,” said Rogers’ CEO Joe Natale in the release. “5G is at our doorstep and these investments are critical to developing the ideas and solutions that will fuel industries and drive Canada’s digital economy for decades to come.”
To note, 5G won’t fully be deployed to all Canadians until at least 2021 because we currently do not have all the spectrum necessary for the next generation of wireless networks.
According to the release, the partnership will focus on 5G research in specific areas including engineering, network design, applied mathematics and artificial intelligence.
The carrier and the university will also “build a 5G network on campus that will test network infrastructure, frequencies and applications in a real world Canadian environment.”
Applications for research projects and the construction of the smart campus will start in early 2020, it noted.
This is the second university Rogers has partnered with to create a 5G smart campus. After partnering with the University of British Columbia last year, it announced in November 2019 similar efforts to create a smart campus.
Rogers has also become the first Canadian carrier to work with Encqor, a Quebec and Ontario 5G research partnership alliance that includes Ciena, Thales, CGI, IBM and, perhaps most notably, Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson.
To note, Rogers’ 5G vendor is Ericsson.
Through this partnership, Rogers will “support small- and medium-sized enterprises as they work toward unlocking the technological promise of 5G.”
