IRISTEL ENTERS INTO A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH ENCQOR 5G

• ENCQOR 5G (Evolution of Cloud Services in the Quebec-Ontario Corridor for Research and Innovation) is a transformational Canada-Quebec-Ontario partnership focused on innovation in 5G technologies.
• The project brings together industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the public sector, innovation centers and academia to realize the technological promise of 5G in the short term and stimulate long-term economic growth. 
• ENCQOR 5G has five innovation centers located in Ontario and Quebec offering a 5G platform where SMEs can develop and test new solutions. 

Montreal, Quebec, October 9, 2020 - ENCQOR 5G is pleased to announce the signing of a new collaboration agreement with Iristel, an innovative player in the telecommunications sector based in Markham, Ontario, with operations across Canada.

Through this agreement, Iristel will have access to ENCQOR's 5G test bed to perform various technology development work and test new solutions using 5G technology.

Iristel joins the ranks of ENCQOR 5G along with six other telecommunications companies: Bell, Cogeco, Ecotel (Ambra Solutions), Rogers, Telus and Videotron. These companies also signed memorandums of understanding in February to use ENCQOR 5G's infrastructures for technological development purposes.

"We are pleased that the reach of the ENCQOR 5G program continues to expand in Canada's key telecommunications sector. By partnering with players of Iristel's quality, just as we did with the other six telecommunications companies earlier this year, ENCQOR 5G can directly contribute to the emergence of a robust and dynamic 5G ecosystem in Canada, capable of competing on a global scale," said Mr. Pierre Boucher, General Manager of ENCQOR 5G.

"Iristel is pleased to sign this MOU with ENCQOR 5G. It will provide us with easy and simple access to state-of-the-art 5G infrastructure to test, if necessary, different solutions using this technology. ENCQOR 5G will thus be a useful lever in our technological development efforts in the future,” said François Picard, Vice-President, Wireless Networks at Iristel.

ENCQOR is the only 5G test bench in Canada to offer access to all 5G frequency ranges through an interconnected network of 5 innovation centers based in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Waterloo. ENCQOR's state-of-the-art infrastructure allows researchers and developers to use the full potential of 5G in their development work.

About Iristel:

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing carrier providing innovative communication services, including cybersecurity, that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and TDE, a company that offers sale, rental and repair services of telecommunication equipment in Eastern Quebec and Northern New Brunswick.

About ENCQOR 5G:

The ENCQOR 5G initiative is funded by the governments of Canada, Quebec and Ontario, as well as key industry players: Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, CGI and IBM. ENCQOR 5G is coordinated by ENCQOR Innovation. It is issued in Ontario by OCE and in Quebec by Innovation ENCQOR, Prompt and ADRIQ. The program's mandate is to bring together SMEs and the academic community to contribute to the advancement of research, innovation and application demonstration through a 5G pre-commercial testbed.