Shaw Communications Completes Its First Successful

CALGARY, Alberta, May 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX:SJR.B) (TSX:SJR.PR.A) (TSX:SJR.PR.B) (NYSE: SJR ) (TSX-V:SJR.A)  today announced the successful completion of its first 5G technical trials in Calgary. Conducted in collaboration with Nokia, CableLabs and Rohde & Schwarz, Shaw’s trials leveraged 28GHz mmWave and 3.5GHz spectrum and demonstrated the significant and sustained speeds for the next generation of wireless technology.

“5G is set to completely transform the industry with faster wireless speeds that will help usher in the next industrial revolution and enable future technologies that we can only dream of today,” said Zoran Stakic, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer, Shaw Communications. “We are pleased that our first trials have been a resounding success, and through our partnerships with best-in-class industry leaders we will work to better understand 5G’s strengths and capabilities while continuing to invest in our network to offer Canadians a new era of strong and sustainable competition for the next generation of wireless technologies.”

The 5G trials were conducted using pre-commercial equipment at Shaw’s Barlow Campus Technology Centre in Calgary, and leveraged developmental 28GHz licenses provided by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. As part of this trial, Shaw also conducted comparative testing between 28GHz and 3.5GHz spectrum to better understand the interoperability between two of the bands considered vital to the growth and proliferation of 5G.

“We are delighted to partner with Shaw on their 5G trials, bringing our technology and extensive industry expertise of working with customers all over the world on the design and testing of 5G solutions. 5G preparation is happening this year already in North America, which is sooner than many expected. We will enable Shaw to offer very high speed with extremely fast response time that will allow robots and machines to communicate between themselves at the speed of light,” said Marc Rouanne, President of Mobile Networks, Nokia.

“CableLabs is very pleased with the successful outcome of Shaw’s 5G field trial and the opportunity to collaborate with them on it,” said Ralph Brown, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, CableLabs. “The learnings from this field trial, together with the cross-industry collaboration on this and other cable industry 5G trials, ensure that Shaw and the rest of the industry are well positioned to use their fibre and HFC infrastructure to advance 5G on a broad scale.”

“Rohde & Schwarz was happy to participate in these trial activities and to support our North American customer base – in particular Shaw, Nokia, and CableLabs – to measure 5G and LTE signals in parallel with our scanner-based backpack prototype solution at 28GHz and 3.5GHz to assess coverage for both technologies,” said Hanspeter Bobst, Vice President Rohde & Schwarz mobile network testing and CEO SwissQual – a Rohde & Schwarz company.

Shaw will continue to conduct technical trials in the coming months to test the 5G ecosystem as part of its larger commitment to improving performance across its LTE-Advanced network.

About Shaw Shaw Communications Inc. is a leading Canadian connectivity company. The Wireline division consists of Consumer and Business services. Consumer serves residential customers with broadband Internet, Shaw Go WiFi, video and digital phone. Business provides business customers with Internet, data, WiFi, digital phone and video services. The Wireless division provides wireless voice and LTE-Advanced data services through an expanding and improving mobile wireless network infrastructure.  

Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (Symbol: TSX - SJR.B, SJR.PR.A, SJR.PR.B, NYSE – SJR, and TSXV – SJR.A). For more information, please visit www.shaw.ca .

Statements included in this news release that are not historic constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements include, but are not limited to: statements related to the test results of tests of 5G wireless technology. These statements are based on assumptions made by Shaw that it believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. There is the risk that one or more of these assumptions will not prove to be accurate. Undue reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statement. Except as required by law, Shaw disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

For media inquiries, please contact: Shaw Communications Inc. Chethan Lakshman, VP, External Affairs (403) 930-8448 chethan.lakshman@sjrb.ca