Canadian Telecom Summit: Canada’s Key Takeaways on Getting 5G Right

5G is expected to be the most transformative technology since wireless services were introduced in Canada in 1985 and will transition to a truly digitally connected world.

At this year’s 19th annual Canadian Telecom Summit, Rogers Communications, Chief Technology Officer, Jorge Fernandes delivered a keynote presentation sharing his perspective on the impact 5G will have on our lives and why it is an opportunity Canada can’t afford to get wrong.

Here are the key takeaways from his speech:

Years of investments in our networks have gotten us here. As an industry, we have been pushing to provide the best infrastructure and network experience for Canadians. Years of investments have meant Canadians have access to world-class 4G networks, allowing Canadians to enjoy the fastest download speeds in the world – 287% faster than the global average!

5G deployment requires extensive upgrades and investment. Estimates say our industry will need to spend $26 billion in the next five years to build and deploy 5G networks across the country. This consists of acquiring critical spectrum, upgrading our radio networks, installing high capacity transport, upgrading our network core and enabling advanced capabilities. Investing in our digital infrastructure is more important than ever as we start delivering a 5G future to Canadians.

Partnerships are crucial to unlock the possibilities with 5G. Rogers has partnered with Ericsson as our 5G network infrastructure vendor to build out Canada’s first and largest 5G network. We’ve also built an ecosystem of strategic partnerships to research, incubate and commercialize made-in-Canada 5G technology and applications with the University of British Columbia, the University of Waterloo, Communitech, Ryerson University Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and ENCQOR.

5G is critical for Canada’s future prosperity and growth. Networks underpin our economy, our society and every part of our lives and upgrading our digital infrastructure and accelerating digitization is critical for us to remain competitive. 5G will allow us to continue to grow our innovation sector and create more jobs, which is critical in fueling our economic recovery.

Canada is well placed to lead in 5G with the right investments and regulatory certainty. Upgrading to 5G is not just a software upgrade and a flick of a switch. To transform our networks and build out the infrastructure we need clarity from government as partners and a balanced regulatory approach that will enable ongoing investments and keep Canada competitive.