Photo: Canadian Press
Rogers Communications is expanding its 5G technology to 50 new markets starting today – including communities in Thompson-Okanagan.
The announcement includes 26 cities in British Columbia, including Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon, Salmon Arm, Penticton and Osoyoos.
Several lower mainland communities are also included.
The company says the technology will be launched in a mix of small towns and large cities across Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan as it approaches its goal of bringing 5G to 60 markets by the end of the year.
You will get Hamilton, Waterloo, and UNT. , Gatineau, Koyo, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria, Surrey, British Columbia, Regina and Saskatoon all have access to 5G, which was launched in Rogers in January from downtown Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
The new service promises near instantaneous download, upload and broadcast speeds.
However, most Canadians won’t be able to access the technology right away because the network requires a 5G-enabled phone.
Rogers has quite a few 5G phones on the market, but it expects more to come and consumers will make the switch as they upgrade older devices.
“The 5G network represents a massive technological shift that will change the way British Colombians live and work,” said Rick Sellers, Rogers’ president for British Columbia. “Robust digital infrastructure and this next-generation technology are essential to fuel productivity and innovation as we emerge from the pandemic, and in the future as we reset the competitive landscape in British Columbia and Canada globally.”
Rogers launched the first 5G smart city pilot project in Canada earlier this year with Kelowna and the University of British Columbia.
The company also launched its network sites this year in West Kelowna and Osoyoos.
With an extremely low response time, the interval between the request being sent and the network response would theoretically drop to a millisecond, 400 times faster than the blink of an eye, the company says.
Earlier this year, Rogers announced that it would create 350 new jobs in the local economy by 2021 through its BC Customer Solutions Center in Kelowna.
– files from The Canadian Press
