Telefonica Conducting 5G Trials

Over the past year there have been very serious talks about 5G and its upcoming deployment. In the time it has taken to develop the network enough to trial it, organisations around the world – Dashboard included – have expressed their eagerness to witness the roll out.

The plans finally come to fruition through Telefonica.

The Spanish telecommunications company with operations in 21 countries has partnered up with Nokia and Ericsson to start trials in two locations in Spain: Segovia and Talavera de la Reina. These two towns will be converted into “5G living laboratories” over the next three years. This duration will see the testing of the services themselves; business models that best unlock the potential of 5G and technologies to support it.

The two towns will receive early access to 5G, brought by different partners. Nokia will be working in Segovia, particularly on delivering end-to-end solutions due to their pre-existing portfolio. Ericsson will be helping Telefonica in Talavera de la Reina with achieving high 5G standards. Together, these roll outs will help Telefonica adapt their systems for eventually deploying 5G across the country.

Alongside mobile connectivity, Telefonica is working with other companies and sectors across Spain to test 5G on a wider scale. These partnerships include working with tourism agencies on VR and AR, and with SEAT and Ficosa on connected car applications. In addition, the company is looking into drone control; health; fixed radio access in rural areas and automation/digitisation of industrial processes.

For some, Telefonica’s roll out is cause for concern. With 4G connection currently being intermittent or completely non-existent in some areas, it’s fair to question why its successor is already being tested. One theory is that if 5G can be set up and tested quickly enough, the 4G stage could be completely skipped, easing the transition from 3G straight to 5G in those areas. If this is the case, Telefonica’s endeavour is even more significant for the development of these connection-poor locations.

Dashboard sees the news as extremely positive – steps are finally being taken to develop 5G at the ground level and concrete progress is underway. We enthusiastically await the results of the testing and hope to hear news of progress soon.