TORONTO — As Canada’s telecom network operators have responded to significant traffic demands during the Covid-19 crisis, Ericsson Canada has been working with many of them to ensure Canadians stay connected.
In a blog post last week, Ericsson Canada president Graham Osborne outlined a number of the ways Ericsson is supporting the efforts of network operators and partners to adjust and meet new demands quickly. “Ericsson is addressing data traffic shifts to accommodate temporary traffic hikes, fixing crashed nodes and installing new ones. We are also ensuring smooth upgrades and bringing additional capabilities online for operators that require them without disrupting project timelines,” writes Osborne.
This is all happening despite restrictions around crews and the necessary on-site precautions being taken, Osborne says.
“Supply chain challenges [are] also being addressed at a project-level to manage shipments directly in order to prevent timeline slippage and ensure our operators and their customers get what they need when they need it. Operators have taken steps to make sure Canadian networks are hardened and designed to withstand times like these. Together, we have ensured that Canada has robust networks country-wide, enabling Canadians to stay in touch, access essential services, and carry out their jobs.”
Ericsson has benefited from already having in place the capabilities for supporting employees working from home. “Our employees enjoy the same level of network performance and security in their homes that they experience in the office. This provided us with a level of preparedness to function effectively in the situation — using our own tools and capabilities to enable productivity levels ensuring that work continued seamlessly without gaps in support as the pandemic began to unfold,” he writes.
Companies would benefit from planning for this level of remote readiness in the future, Osborne says, adding that more employees will opt to work from home and it is imperative to have proper and secure remote capabilities to enable them to be as productive at home as they are in the office.
“As a country, we have the technology and network capabilities to make uncompromising remote work possible for all Canadians,” Osborne writes.
The pandemic has highlighted the need for networks to run at their highest performance possible and also made it clear upgrading to 5G technology is more critical than ever, he says.
Of course, no telecom tech message in 2020 would be complete without a reference to 5G.
“With the added scale and latency benefits that 5G offers, it can more effectively support the demands of this new normal — more people working from home, robust mission critical services, and improved security,” he added.
The company has R&D centres in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, and Ericsson is working closely with the Canadian government, Osborne says. Ericsson is also a partner and major sponsor of ENCQOR 5G (Evolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Quebec and Ontario for Research and Innovation), which is also providing funding for a limited time to expedite Covid-19 related research and development.
