Telenor today announced 10 locations in Norway will get 5G over the course of this year.
Telenor’s 5G network will be available in Elverum, Fornebu, Trondheim, Bodo, Askvoll, Oslo, Svalbard, Kvitfjell, Heroya and Froya.
Telenor said it is developing Scandinavia’s largest 5G pilot in Elverum, using equipment provided by Ericsson. It runs separate trials elsewhere with equipment from both Nokia and Huawei.
Earlier this year, Telenor Denmark announced the commencement of 5G trials with Nokia. Digi, Telenor’s Malaysian operation, has partnered with Cyberview to open a 5G lab in the country.
State-controlled Telenor, Norway’s largest telecoms provider, plans to pick 5G technology suppliers this year to prepare for commercial rollout in 2020.
The company, which has 182 million subscribers across eight countries in Europe and Asia, signed its first major contract with Huawei in 2009, a deal that helped pave way for the Chinese firm’s global expansion.
“We are talking to everybody, everyone is in the process, and we will have to see what we choose in the end. We continue to have a good dialogue with the government,” said Petter-Boerre Furberg, who heads Telenor’s domestic operation.
Meanwhile, Norway does not plan to block China’s Huawei Technologies from building the country’s 5G telecoms network, cabinet minister Nikolai Astrup told Reuters.
The United States has alleged Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. But Huawei has repeatedly denied. Huawei is currently facing a ban on the supply of telecom equipment from US-based companies.
Telenor opened Scandinavia’s largest 5G pilot in the Norwegian municipality of Elverum, making Telenor Norway the country’s first operator to integrate 5G into its mobile network.
“Connectivity is fundamental to modern societies and with 5G we open up for completely new experiences and applications for our customers and partners,” said Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Group.
Telenor becomes the first operator in Norway to integrate 5G into its mobile network. This means that anyone with access to a 5G mobile phone will soon be able to use the super network of the future in Elverum.
Through the project, more than 50 pilot customers in the municipality will be connected to the 5G network. They will get to test 5G on mobile handsets, 5G via broadband and TV, as well as smart home solutions. Ericsson will be contributing both 5G network equipment and deployment.
“Ericsson is leading the way on 5G in Europe,” said Jenny Lindqvist, Head of Northern & Central Europe at Ericsson.
