Telenor launches Scandinavia’s largest 5G pilot in Norway

(Elverum, 26 September 2019) Telenor today 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. Exploring this technology here in Norway means that we can learn, test and continuously improve as we gradually introduce 5G to our markets,” said Sigve Brekke, Telenor Group President and CEO, as he participated in the first live 5G video call in Norway.   

With the new pilot, 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.

“This is an important day both for the residents of Elverum and us at Telenor. With the launch of Scandinavia’s largest 5G pilot, we have strengthened our commitment to 5G. The residents of Elverum have exciting times ahead of them, reaping the benefits of what next-generation mobile technology has to offer,” said Telenor Norway CEO Petter Furberg at the launch.

Scandinavia’s largest 5G pilot
Telenor’s pilot in Elverum is the most comprehensive 5G pilot run by Telenor and the largest run in Scandinavia as of today. 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.

“The success of this 5G pilot signals great things in store not just for Elverum but for Norway as a whole. The benefits of 5G’s high speeds, low latency, and superior reliability will make a real difference. Ericsson is leading the way on 5G in Europe, so we are pleased to work with partners such as Telenor to ensure that their customers in turn also benefit from that leadership and expertise,” said Jenny Lindqvist, Head of Northern & Central Europe at Ericsson.

Telenor’s 5G commitment continues
Telenor’s commitment to 5G continues apace with expansions to the network planned in several locations in Norway, including Trondheim and the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Today, Telenor announced those 10 Norwegian locations that will get 5G over the course of this year. They are:

1. Elverum
2. Fornebu
3. Trondheim
4. Bodø (selected base stations)
5. Oslo (selected base stations)
6. Askvoll
7. Svalbard
8. Kvitfjell
9. Herøya
10. Frøya

This is complimented by further pilots and partnerships in Scandinavia and Asia. Earlier this year, Telenor Denmark announced the commencement of 5G trials with Nokia, while in Asia this month, Telenor’s Malaysian operation, Digi, partnered with Cyberview to open a 5G lab in the country. The ‘OpenLab’ will be a collaborative space for businesses academics and developers to test new 5G use cases.

THE JOURNEY SO FAR: TELENOR’S 5G MILESTONES July 4, 2018: Telenor Group is to coordinate the 5G Verticals INNovation Infrastructure (5G-VINNI) initiative, an EU-led project to accelerate the uptake of 5G across Europe. November 8, 2018: Telenor Norway opens Scandinavia’s first  5G pilot in Kongsberg February 25, 2019: Telenor and Nokia begin testing 5G capabilities in Denmark February 26, 2019: Telenor Norway announces that it will establish a 5G pilot at Elverum and other locations March 27, 2019: Telenor Norway announces that Trondheim will be the first major city to get 5G  May 27, 2019:  Digi and ZTE sign MoU to explore 5G technology in Malaysia May 31, 2019: dtac teams up with state telecom agencies TOT and CAT Telecom to test 5G wireless broadband technology. July 10, 2019: Telenor Norway announces that Askvoll will be its next 5G pilot September 9: dtac launches 5G testbed at its internal Never Stop Café September 17, 2019: Telenor opens a 5G base station at its headquarters in Oslo September 19, 2019: Telenor’s Malaysian operator, Digi, partners with Cyberview on 5G OpenLab at Cyberjaya. September 26, 2019: Telenor launches Scandinavia’s largest 5G pilot in Elverum in addition to announcing pilots in nine further locations in the country. Telenor conducts Norway’s first video call over 5G.

Press contact:
Hanne Knudsen, Telenor Group Communications
+4790804015 | hanne.knudsen@telenor.com

For image of the first live 5G video call, download here.

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