Argentina’s Grupo Datco, the owner of fibre-optic infrastructure firm Silica Networks, has announced plans to begin testing 5G and fibre-based fixed wireless access (FWA) technology.
According to local media Telesemana, the aim is to test the technology on specific economic activities that require high-quality and efficient telecommunications to sustain their operations, including oil exploration areas.
The report cited the Buenos Aires-based telecom and IT company's CEO Horacio Martinez as saying: “5G provides new alternatives for data transmission, primarily in Fixed Wireless mode. We are exploring this path and have commissioned teams to assess the future of its development.”
Datco will be using its concession in the 3.5 GHz band and its extensive fibre-optic network for the trial, above all with improving connectivity in the Vaca Muerta formation in southern Argentina, said the report.
Martinez said not all 4G deployments will necessarily be migrated to 5G, and from a cost-benefit point of view, 4G still has a lot to offer.
According to the report, Datco last year reached a deal with Telcosur, the telecommunications unit of Argentinian gas giant TGS, to add Sixfox technology to microwave antenna towers deployed in Patagonia and interconnect their 1,800 kilometres of fibre networks in the region.
