Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei says it is testing a fixed wireless service in Vancouver with Canadian operator Telus in the latter's "5G Living Lab".
Huawei said in a statement that the service was "compliant with the global 5G 3GPP standard and is believed to be the first trial of its kind in North America, and among the first globally".
The test was said to be working in the 28 GHz band with 800 MHz of bandwidth, leveraging technologies including massive MIMO, F-OFDM and Polar Code.
The trial is being conducted in the homes of Vancouver-based TELUS employees and is based on the successful 5G 3GPP mmWave tests that TELUS and Huawei conducted in June 2017.
{loadposition sam08}The 5G wireless trial system provides users with a fibre-like experience with their home network.
Ibrahim Gedeon, chief technology officer at Telus, noted: “This trial represents continued progress toward the launch of 5G, as we start to replicate both the in-home experience and network footprint we will see when 5G becomes commercially available in the near future.
“Wireless 5G services will generate tremendous benefits for consumers, operators, governments and more through the use of advanced IoT devices, big data applications, smart city systems and other technologies of the future.”
The testing comes a few days after American intelligence chiefs, including the heads of the FBI, CIA and the NSA, accused Huawei of spying for China.
The concerns apparently do not seem to extend across the border to Canada.
"mmWave technology will be an important tool in ensuring widespread deployment of 5G technology in Canada. Huawei’s 5G solutions and terminals will enable 5G coverage over a neighbourhood or small community cost effectively, while providing more convenient and high-speed home broadband Internet access services." said Dr Wen Tong, Huawei Fellow, and chief technology officer, Huawei Wireless.
"This friendly user trial will drive the global 3GPP unified 5G standard and build a solid foundation for the 5G early commercialisation."