GO has signed a €16 million deal with telecommunications giant Nokia for 5G infrastructure leading to nationwide coverage by the end of 2023.
As of Wednesday, GO pay monthly customers with 5G-enabled handsets can take advantage of the latest generation of mobile technology, for free, when in 5G covered areas, such as St Julian’s and Sliema.
Pay monthly GO customers will automatically see the 5G logo on their mobile device, provided their handset is capable of 5G.
So far, only a few handsets, including specific devices from Xiaomi and One-Plus, automatically support 5G. GO has however initiated the process for other suppliers, such as Samsung and Apple, to provide the required certification to enable their 5G phones on GO’s network.
Nokia is a leading global 5G supplier and has been GO’s trusted mobile partner since the introduction of 3G in 2007.
"As a company, we pride ourselves on being one of the biggest investors in Malta’s digital infrastructure. This continuous investment means that our customers get to enjoy the best and latest technologies, every day; that they never have to worry about how they are going to connect to the things they love, but more about who and what they want to connect to," said Nikhil Patil, CEO, GO plc.
"Our job is to ensure that we keep on enabling peoples’ lives and businesses through the latest technologies, with the fastest, uncapped mobile speeds," he added.
5G paves the way for adoption of mobile solutions in real-time applications such as automation and remote monitoring, and for ‘immersive’ technologies such as virtual reality. This will become possible by reducing latency – the mobile network’s reaction time, therefore providing a far richer experience to the end user.
5G also delivers much higher capacity, allowing more devices to use the network simultaneously, an essential requirement for mobile networks to support the Internet of Things, which will see billions of devices requiring connectivity worldwide.
GO launched its first IoT product, which enables business to track valuable assets and collate data allowing for better decision making, this week.
Kelvin Camenzuli, GO’s Chief Digital Officer explained how 5G is set to address future challenges in the areas of connectivity, speed, and quality of service offering high-speed mobile connection, low latency services and an ultra-reliable and scalable network.
He said GO technical teams have been working hard to deploy true fibre connectivity at the company's mobile sites, in preparation of 5G connectivity.
“We believe that Nokia’s 5G proposition satisfies our expectations because it is a solution built to support the growth of mobile and enterprise services and allows the scalability and varied service requirements for our customers to truly experience the benefits of 5G as we ensure that no one is left behind in connecting to the latest 5G services,” Camenzuli added.
"Throughout this past year, our existing 4G mobile network was repeatedly certified by independent accreditors, as the fastest and most reliable mobile network. As a company we know and understand how dependent our customers are on a secure mobile connection, whether they are private individuals or businesses. This progression toward 5G mobile services is a natural step forward in ensuring that our customers’ lives are that little bit better, every day," concluded Patil.