Videotron, a regional telecom operator in Canada, has selected Samsung Electronics for the deployment of 4G LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and 5G radio access networks solutions.

This is the first time Samsung is delivering network solutions in Canada, Samsung said on Monday.

Videotron has tapped Korea’s Samsung at a time when Canada has not yet decided whether or not it will use 5G equipment provided by China-based Huawei Technologies.
Videotron, which is currently providing 4G LTE service, plans to launch commercial LTE-A and 5G services in late 2020.

Starting in early 2020, Samsung will deliver 4G LTE-A solutions across Quebec and Ottawa in which the solutions from Samsung include Massive MIMO and Dual-band base stations, supporting the operator’s 4G LTE frequencies, and 5G solutions for both 3.5GHz and 28GHz spectrum.

Canada’s 5G commercial launch is expected to take place in late 2020. The government estimates that 5G wireless technologies could be a C$40 billion or $29.8 billion industry in Canada by 2026.

Canada is investing C$199million over five years to modernize spectrum equipment.
In June 2019, the federal Innovation Ministry released a paper outlining changes to an auction expected next year, a decision on a higher frequency millimeter wave spectrum in 2021, and a proposal for a new frequency in 2022.

Videotron has 1,545,200 cable and IP television users, 443,500 Club illico OTT video customers, 1,724,300 high-speed Internet subscribers, 1,288,700 mobile telephone subscribers and 1,052,700 cable telephone user in Canada.

“We have been all over the world to find the best supplier suited to meet the evolving needs of our customers. This partnership will allow us to deliver the most advanced telecommunications solutions to Quebecers,” said Jean Francois Pruneau, president and chief executive officer of Videotron.

Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics, said using the global experience of 5G commercialization from leading 5G markets like Korea and the U.S., Samsung will increase its position in 4G LTE and 5G vendor market.

The latest Opensignal report said Bell, Rogers and Telus all averaged download speeds greater than 35 Mbps across their mobile broadband networks. All three operators had high marks in Video Experience metric, but Bell and Telus elevated themselves into an elite category of operator.

Baburajan K