VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 4, 2016) - (TSX:T)(NYSE:TU) - As carriers around the world work towards developing the next generation of wireless technology, TELUS, Canada's fastest growing national telecommunications company, and Huawei, one of the world's largest telecommunications and ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers are a step closer to the future after successfully achieving wireless speeds of 29.3 Gbps.
These ground-breaking trials are laying the foundation for 5G, which will enable the likes of driverless cars; smart homes, businesses and cities; new innovations in healthcare; as well as yet-to-be-imagined applications, devices and services powered by astonishingly fast and reliable wireless connections.
The speed tests took place in the heart of TELUS and Huawei's 5G Living Lab in Vancouver, where both companies have been trialling next generation technologies since late last year in a live, real-world setting. While 5G is anticipated to become mainstream by 2020, TELUS customers living in the Vancouver area will have early access to some of the most cutting-edge wireless technologies in the world.
"While we innovate towards the future of wireless standards with our 5G live trial, our feet are firmly rooted in the present; the Living Lab will allow us to deploy continuously faster and more reliable network technologies for our customers in real time," said Eros Spadotto, TELUS' Executive Vice President of Technology Strategy. "We're still in the early days of determining what the deployment of 5G will look like, but what we do know is that it will be a quantum leap forward in wireless technology and the foundation of future innovations."
In addition to the successful 29.3 Gbps field trial of 5G, one 4G LTE wireless site in Vancouver has also been upgraded with the latest advancement in LTE-Advanced Pro technologies capable of speeds of up to 1 Gbps -10 times faster than current LTE-Advanced speeds. Five more sites will be upgraded in the coming weeks, and TELUS customers will be able to take advantage of these technologies as early as next year, as LTE-Advanced Pro compatible devices become available.
"This is a tremendous achievement for our TELUS and Huawei 5G Living Lab Partnership," said Sean Yang, President Huawei Canada. "We are also extremely proud that much of the technology used in this trial is a result of the 'Made in Canada' leadership of our Huawei Canada Research Centre team. Huawei's Canada Research Centre has become one of the global pioneers for 5G technology. The success of the trial today, with a great Canadian partner in TELUS, reinforces the important role Canada is playing in leading global 5G technology development."
TELUS' advancements towards 5G builds on the company's $1-billion investment to connect Vancouver to the TELUS PureFibre network, which will ultimately provide the backbone to support lightning-fast wireless speeds as the development roadmaps for wireless and wireline networks converge around 5G concepts. The PureFibre network will provide nearly limitless capacity to support the highly efficient, reliable and blazing-fast wireless speeds 5G will enable for customers, heightening the importance of TELUS' fibre investments across Canada.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX:T)(NYSE:TU) is Canada's fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $12.6 billion of annual revenue and 12.5 million subscriber connections, including 8.4 million wireless subscribers, 1.6 million high-speed Internet subscribers, 1.4 million residential network access lines and 1.0 million TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video, and is Canada's largest healthcare IT provider.
In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed $440 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered more than 6.8 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Created in 2005 by President and CEO Darren Entwistle, TELUS' 12 Canadian community boards and 5 International boards have led the Company's support of grassroots charities and have contributed more than $54 million in support of over 4,900 local charitable projects, enriching the lives of more than 2 million children and youth, annually. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.
For more information about TELUS, please visit www.telus.com .
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Huawei's 177,000 employees worldwide are committed to bringing advanced communications technologies to operators, enterprises and consumers around the world. Huawei's innovative ICT solutions, products and services have been deployed in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than one third of the world's population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is fully owned by its employees, and was recently named again by Interbrand as one of the world's top 100 brands - the first Chinese company to receive this recognition.
Huawei Canada has been in operation since 2008. Huawei's innovative wireless products and services support many of Canada's leading telecommunications companies, and Huawei's Canada Research Centre in Ottawa, Ontario is a global leader in advanced communications technologies, including 5G. Huawei is proud to be a key part of Canada's ICT Ecosystem.
For more information, please visit Huawei online: www.huawei.ca
