Toronto is about to get a fancy new kind of 5G for the first time
A new, even faster version of the 5G network is coming to mobile users in Toronto, where one of Canada's telecom giants is launching the all-new 5G+ for the first time this summer.
The switch will mean "unprecedented mobile data speeds," according to Bell, the first provider to offer the new service in the city, bringing the fastest technology available on the market with download speeds of three gigabytes per second — more gigs than some people have on their phone plan for an entire month.
Though it's kicking off in T.O. first, the company anticipates that 40 per cent of its customers will have access to 5G+ by the end of the year — that is, if they have a compatible phone and plan.
For the tech to work, Bell users must be signed on with an Ultimate 45 or Ultimate 50 plan and have an iPhone 12, 13 or SE; a Samsung S21 or S22; or a Pixel 6. (Though the selection of devices that work with the tech will obviously be growing in the near future.)
Rogers already launched its version of 5G+ — which is a mid-band 3,500 MHz wireless spectrum — in Nanaimo, B.C., with a promise to soon bring it to Toronto, as well as Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton in the coming months.
As noted by the federal government, 3,500 MHz "has historically been used to provide fixed wireless Internet, but in the past few years, it has been globally recognized as key for 5G networks as it provides both coverage and capacity for a wide array of new applications."
A total of 23 companies bid on 1,504 available licences on the band this time last year, with providers like Bell and Rogers now able to offer the faster, more responsive service that is slowly rolling out worldwide.
Bell's Chief Technology and Information officer has called the transition a "significant milestone in the evolution of next generation communications in Canada."
Toronto Bell customers can expect to be able to use 5G+ "soon," based on the press release.
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