Samsung today announced that it has signed a deal with Telus as a buyer of its 5G infrastructure equipment.
Samsung is the third 5G equipment supplier to have signed a deal with one of Canada’s largest carriers. Earlier this month, Telus signed agreements with European suppliers Nokia and Ericsson as its initial 5G suppliers.
Samsung is a newcomer to Canada’s network infrastructure. The Korean telecommunication giant, well-known for its smartphones, officially announced its presence in Canada late last year. On Dec. 19, Videotron became the first Canadian carrier to purchase Samsung gear for its 5G and 4G LTE-A network.
Samsung said in its press release that it has signed four new contracts in Canada, U.S., and New Zealand. In Korea, Samsung has deployed 53,000 base stations across Korea’s top three telecoms.
“We are excited to have earned TELUS’ trust to roll out next-generation 5G services together, leveraging our successful experiences in commercializing 5G across multiple leading markets,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, president of network business at Samsung.
With Huawei’s identity as a network supplier hanging in the balance, its absence in North America’s 5G race has created a hole for other suppliers to fill. Samsung, along with other European network equipment manufacturers, has been sharply eyeing for a bigger slice of Canada’s 5G network.
Samsung did not specify whether its gear will be deployed in Telus’ core network or radio access network, only that it “will play a large part in helping Telus build out its nationwide 5G network”
Samsung and Telus were not immediately available for comment at the time of publication.