Huawei and TELUS to create 5G “Living Lab” in Downtown Vancouver
BC Premier Christy Clark visits Huawei headquarters in China to witness deal to help bring the world’s most advanced telecommunications technology to Vancouver
Oct 4, 2016
SHENZHEN, CHINA – Huawei, one of the world’s largest telecommunications and ICT suppliers, today announced a memorandum of understanding with TELUS, Canada’s fastest growing national telecommunications company, to establish a “5G Living Lab”. This innovative new project will test approaches to deliver a next-generation converged fibre-wireless network in downtown Vancouver. The announcement was made on the occasion of the visit of the Premier of British Columbia, Christy Clark, to Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen.
To support this ”Living Lab”, Huawei will be making a significant investment to design, test and deploy ground-breaking new technologies, leading towards the development of next-generation 5G based telecommunications networks.
This agreement follows TELUS’ recently announced $1-billion investment to expand its fibre optic network in Vancouver, which will ultimately provide the backbone to support highly efficient and lightning-fast wireless speeds as the development road maps for wireless and wireline networks converge around 5G concepts. Together, Huawei and TELUS are helping the City of Vancouver deliver upon its goal of becoming the worlds’ greenest city[1] by 2020 through providing network capacity and speed that will enable “smart city” and other sustainability-focused technology initiatives.
“TELUS is recognized globally as one of the world’s most advanced telecommunications operators” said Ken Hu, Co-CEO, Huawei. “The opportunity to partner with TELUS to deploy innovative new technologies is critical to our global 5G research and development process and positions TELUS on the leading edge of next-generation telecommunications technology deployment.”
“This project will bring some of the most cutting-edge telecommunications technology available today to Vancouver, building upon our recently announced billion dollar investment to introduce fibre optic technology and further reinforcing our commitment to the city,” said Eros Spadotto, Executive Vice President of Technology Strategy for TELUS. “Working with Huawei, our efforts will lay the groundwork for delivering a converged fibre-wireless network with the potential to deliver dramatically faster wireless speeds, thereby improving citizens’ lives and generating significant new social, educational and economic opportunities. In addition, it will help all levels of government to build a greener, more inclusive and globally competitive Vancouver.”
“There is a natural partnership between British Columbia and Shenzhen,” said Premier Clark. “We both host thriving tech and communications sectors, and are fortunate to work with companies like Huawei and Telus on investments to expand and upgrade ICT infrastructure with the latest technology.”
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 Kanata, Ontario is a global leader in advanced communications technologies. We are proud to be a key part of Canada’s ICT Ecosystem.
http://www.huawei.com/ca-en/about-huawei/newsroom/press-release/hw-460412.htm
