Ericsson, Intel and Telia announced the first public 5G live network in Europe on Sept. 29, 2017. While at the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, the high speed 5G connection delivers connectivity to the Tallink Silja Europa cruise ship. (Credit: Intel Corporation)
Telia, along with Ericsson and Intel, is pushing ahead to get to 5G and has deployed what it’s calling the first public 5G live network use cases in Europe.
The use cases included outfitting a commercial passenger cruise with a 5G network and remotely controlling a construction excavator with a live 5G network. The solutions consist of a 5G base station from Ericsson including a 5G antenna, radio, and baseband, along with Intel’s 5G Mobile Trial Platform that provides millimeter wave and extends Telia’s mobile network to 5G, the companies said. At this time the companies have not disclosed details on which frequencies are being tested.
For the passenger ship test, undertaken in September, the ship was equipped with pre-standard 5G to enable 2,000 passengers, as well as the ship’s own information and communications technology systems, to use WiFi.
The companies said this is the first example of many as to how 5G will provide access in transport scenarios. This “real life” 5G environment, created at the Port of Tallinn, was meant to test and investigate how the new technology can deliver higher data connection speeds and improved quality.
At the EU Digital Summit in Tallinn, the companies showcased an industrial use case, using an augmented reality remote control to operate an excavator over a 5G network with very low latency. According to the companies this shows 5G opportunities in hazardous environments.
On Sept 29, 2017, participants at the EU Digital Summit in Estonia remotely controlled an industrial excavator over an ultrafast live 5G network as part of the first public live 5G trial in Europe, made possible by Ericsson, Intel and Telia. (Credit: Intel Corporation)
In 2016, Telia and Ericsson announced a joint roadmap to bring 5G services to Telia customers in Tallinn and Stockholm in 2018. Telia said with its collaboration with Intel early examples of these services have been brought to light for consumers and businesses.
“We want to be early with 5G and will bring it to life in Stockholm, Tallinn, and Helsinki in 2018. We work together with our partners in the whole ecosystem to explore the powerful effect it is going to have for our customers and in society,” Gabriela Styf Sjöman, global head of networks at Telia Company, commented in a statement. “It’s not only about building a new network but it’s also about building a new way of thinking and perceiving what a mobile network can be and can do. High speed, low latency, guaranteed capacity, and truly mobile is going to push the boundaries of digitalization and we want to be there pushing it together with our partners.”
