SaskTel is implementing a groundbreaking strategy by incorporating Samsung’s cloud-native virtualized core to enhance its network infrastructure. As SaskTel looks towards providing both 4G and 5G capabilities, this roll-out promises faster speeds, supporting the eventual transition to 5G standalone networks.
The innovation brought by Samsung’s core is its transformation from traditional network setups to a cloud-native platform. This architecture favors a containerized, service-oriented framework, optimizing agility, network efficiency, and automation. By doing so, telecom operators can swiftly introduce novel services to the market.
For SaskTel, this transition underscores their commitment to delivering enhanced network speeds. Utilizing its spectrum of 3.8 GHz and 3.5 GHz, SaskTel ensures, as the press release mentions, “improved speeds across the network.” This will be further amplified once Samsung’s 5G Standalone Core solution is in operation, marking a significant step in network modernization.
While the exact timeline remains undisclosed, many operators, including SaskTel, are on the cusp of adopting standalone 5G, yet only 10% of global providers have gone live with such networks. Although timelines are often clouded, SaskTel is clearly aligning itself for future adoption.
As Canada’s SaskTel, a company owned by the provincial government, has been collaborating with Samsung since 2021, it has made significant strides toward 5G adoption. This journey mirrors larger Canadian telcos, reacting to shifts like the disengagement from Huawei.
Their journey underscores a consistent theme of increased speed and resilience that 5G brings, vital for supporting decentralized work, virtual healthcare, and other remote services. Although a familiar mantra, its network now covers almost 90% of Saskatchewan’s population.
Charlene Gavel, SaskTel’s President and CEO, expressed enthusiasm, “We at SaskTel are proud to launch Samsung’s Core on our network, a transformative step toward accelerating innovation and enhancing the everyday wireless experience for our customers.”
Despite its position as a regional operator, SaskTel boasts robust annual revenues and a vast customer base, underscoring its significance. Looking forward, it will be critical to observe which new services the enhanced network facilitates beyond speed improvements.
