The Nordic carrier is working with Ericsson to launch the new trial in Q2 2019
Nordic telecom operator Telenor Group announced plans to expand its 5G piloting in Norway, the telco said in a statement.
The new pilot will be carried out by Telenor Norway in partnership with Ericsson and will complement the mobile operator’s existing 5G pilot in Kongsberg.
“It’s important for Telenor to continuously expand our knowledge and experience through actively testing the 5G technology together with suppliers. Through experimenting we also assess the 5G technological requirements as well as how we and Telenor’s customers can take advantage of the vast opportunities the 5G technology brings. Together with Ericsson we will experiment with ways to design the 5G network, understand the vendor capabilities and use of the technology, and test new use cases,” said Ruza Sabanovic, Chief Technology Officer for Telenor Group.
The carrier said that new pilot will kick off during the second quarter of 2019 and will run until 2020, when Telenor plans launch its commercial 5G network in the Norwegian market.
The operator also said that the new 5G pilot is in the planning stage, and its location and specific use cases will be announced at a later stage.
“We have not yet chosen our vendor for 5G. Both the existing pilot in Kongsberg and our newest pilot activity will enable us to better evaluate which technological, functional and commercial solutions are optimal for our future 5G network and for our customers,” sayd Bjørn Ivar Moen, acting CEO, Telenor Norway.
Telenor recently signed an agreement with European vendors Ericsson and Nokia, for the modernization of Telenor’s core mobile networks in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which will support the 5G radio access network.
“We have had and will have a multivendor strategy in our networks. That has been very important for us to be balanced, to always keep some competition and also be well prepared for uncertainties. Then of course, we are following the situation with the Chinese vendors very closely,” said Sigve Brekke, president and CEO at Telenor Group.
“At the same time, we are also in dialogue with the security authorities in Norway and in other Scandinavian countries (…) So it’s too early to say which vendor strategy we are going to choose for 5G,” he added.
Swiss telco Salt selects Nokia to upgrade core network for 5G
In related 5G news, Swiss telecom operator Salt has selected Nokia to upgrade its radio and mobile core network.
The operator has signed a letter of intent with the Finnish vendor to rollout 5G technology across Switzerland.
Specifics of the deal were not disclosed by the companies. Salt has previously outlined plans to launch 5G services by 2020.
Rival operators Swisscom and Sunrise are also taking actions towards the launch of commercial 5G services in the country.
Swisscom recently confirmed plans to roll out 5G to 60 cities and localities across Switzerland by the end of this year. By the second half of 2019, Swisscom expects to be able to sell 5G handsets from several major handset vendors.
The carrier is currently testing 5G in Lucerne, Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, Geneva and Burgdorf.
Sunrise telecom, recently claimed to have launched the world’s first standardized 5G network at Laax ski resort, using a temporary license in the 3.5 GHz band. The operator also aims to launch commercial services in 2020.
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