Rogers Communications, with the University of British Columbia (UBC), announced it turned on the country’s first 5G-powered smart campus as part of their strategic partnership to advance 5G research in Canada.
The smart campus, which includes 5G towers throughout UBC’s Point Grey campus and an edge computing enabled data centre, is being used by university researchers to test 5G applications in a real-world setting.
Last year Rogers announced a multi-million dollar partnership with UBC to fund academic research in 5G applications and applied sciences that will benefit our country’s unique needs. It announced new research projects that are underway using the 5G network on campus, including:
- Earthquake and tsunami detection technology that leverages the low latency of 5G sensors and machine learning to provide an early warning of an earthquake so people can take preventative steps to stay safe.
- Digital mining technology that makes the operations of mines safer and improves sustainability through autonomous trucks and predictive truck maintenance.
- 5G Mobility as a Service (MaaS), a next generation mobile platform that brings together transit, bike rental, car sharing, car rental and other modes of transportations so consumers can easily get the best on-demand transportation options.
Jorge Fernandes, CTO, Rogers Communications
Our work with UBC is helping design and test Canada’s 5G blueprint and today’s announcement is a critical milestone as we prepare our national network for commercial deployment in 2020.
Dr. Gail Murphy, VP, Research and Innovation, UBC
Our partnership with Rogers builds on the strength of UBC’s campus as a living lab – providing students with opportunities to build the skills for tomorrow and supporting faculty research on 5G-based solutions to significant local and global challenges.
