Canadian wireless operator Rogers Wireless is partnering with Ericsson to deploy 5G. Rogers announced a multi-year network plan that includes 5G trials in Toronto, Ottawa, and other Canadian cities.

This past weekend the companies completed a number of live 5G tests at the Rogers Centre, a multiple-purpose stadium in Toronto. The Rogers Centre was selected as an ideal venue because it has thousands of connected devices, dense concrete, and high peak data usage.

Ericsson and Rogers conducted a variety of tests involving different use cases including virtual reality (VR), retail and commerce, and remotely controlled hardware in the form of robots.

In preparation for 5G, Rogers will continue to roll out its Gigabit LTE network. The technology and equipment for this pre-5G deployment is based on the latest 3GPP standards including 4x4 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), four carrier aggregation, and 256 QAM. As part of this rollout, Rogers will build and deploy small cells and macro sites across Canada.

At the Rogers Centre, the provider demonstrated its Quad-band licensed assisted access (LAA) on its Gigabit LTE network. LAA can provide high bandwidth simultaneously across multiple devices at a much higher speed.

Gigabit LTE is part of the LTE-advanced standard that is used to move networks toward 5G. Both T-Mobile and AT&T have begun rolling out these services — AT&T launched its version, 5G Evolution, just last year after T-Mobile US and Ericsson demonstrated Gigabit LTE at the 2017 Mobile World Congress.

Ericsson has so far played a large role in the deployment of 5G technology in the U.S. T-Mobile announced that it will use Ericsson's 5G platform and 5G RAN software alongside Nokia technology.  Verizon also selected the company for its 5G RAN software, core network gear, and other services.

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