On June 2nd Bell Canada announced that Ericsson of Sweden will provide radio access network (RAN) equipment for its national 5G mobile network rollout. The announcement follows Bell's first commercial 5G network equipment supplier agreement with Finland's Nokia in February 2020.

On 2 June another major Canadian mobile operator, Telus, also announced its selection of Ericsson and Nokia to build its 5G network.

Bell's announcement highlights that the latest contract with Ericsson includes fixed-wireless 5G 'Wireless Home Internet' services as well as mobile deployment, while also stressing that a multi-vendor strategy will be key in its 5G rollout. Stephen Howe, Bell's CTO, added: 'Ericsson plays an important role in enabling Bell's award-winning LTE network and we're pleased to grow our partnership into 5G mobile and fixed-wireless technology. 5G's high-capacity and near-instant connections will enable next-generation applications like mobile 4K video and immersive augmented reality, connected vehicles and industrial IoT automation on a massive scale, and our plan is to deliver the benefits of the 5G wireless revolution to cities and rural locations alike.' 5G-capable smartphones are already available from Bell including the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G series, LG V60 ThinQ 5G Dual Screen and Motorola Edge+.

Telus' CEO Darren Entwistle, declared: 'Our team is committed to rolling out superior network technology from urban to rural communities … Our 5G deployment will support economic growth and diversity that will be essential for the virtualisation of health, education, teleworking, and stimulating the economic growth and recovery given the impact of COVID-19.'

In March 2020 Rogers Communications became the first Canadian operator to offer 5G network access to its mobile subscribers, in downtown Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Rogers is using Ericsson as its main 5G vendor.

Thanks to TeleGeography for this industry update.