MONTREAL – Telus announced Wednesday that is has signed an agreement to develop a 5G laboratory in Montreal to provide an incubator for technologies utilizing the next-generation mobile wireless networks.
The Vancouver-based telecom partnered with the school Ecole de Technologie Superieure, which will be the home of the lab, and with iBwave, a software developer that deploys indoor wireless networks.
The project will collect data on a building’s characteristics into a single 3D digital representation to “help improve collaboration between the various stakeholders, reduce errors and facilitate decision-making,” a press release said.
The idea is to optimize network performance in institutions, such as universities and healthcare centres. Wireless signals must travel through walls, which can reduce performance. Buildings often use technology like signal extenders to create mesh networks to maintain performance.
“Because many construction materials and components used in the design of large office, academic and hospital buildings have a significant impact on mobile signals, the BIM concept will make it possible to more accurately predict wireless service performance in connection with large construction projects and to plan for 5G network deployment in collaboration with all stakeholders, in much the same way as for plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems,” it added.
The partnership is part of Telus’s nearly $30 million in investments in Montreal in 2023 to deploy and update its 5G and fibre networks in the city. The telecom had recently announced it will spend billions of dollars in multiple provinces to build and upgrade networks.
