Science & Technology Correspondent
The chief executive of Vodafone in Ireland has said that 5G mobile
technology could be used as a complementary rather than a replacement
solution for bringing high speed broadband to rural Ireland.
Anne O'Leary was speaking as the company made the first international
holographic call from this country, as a way of showcasing the capabilities
of fifth generation mobile networks.
The call was made from the Dublin docklands, where Vodafone has set up a
Ireland's first live 5G network site, to Max Gasparroni, Vodafone Ireland
interim Chief Technology Officer, who was at the company's innovation centre
in Germany.
"I think it is certainly a complementary technology for Ireland and for
rural broadband and for rural Ireland," said Ms O'Leary.
"And we will certainly be using it to roll out the best voice and data
network throughout Ireland.
"Obviously 4G and 5G is better for outdoor, but fixed fibre technology is
always better for indoor coverage," she said.
"But certainly it can be used in areas that can be hard to get to or
extremely expensive."
Her comments come as the government considers how to proceed
<https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2018/1120/1012138-cabinet/> with its
troubled National Broadband Plan
<https://www.rte.ie/news/2018/1014/1003083-politics-ireland/> .
Amid growing uncertainty around the future of the plan that aims to bring
fibre-optic connectivity to 542,000 premises around the country, there has
been a growing debate about whether the state should consider using other
forms of technology instead, including mobile or wireless networks.
5G offers a range of enhancements on 4G technology, including much higher
data speeds of up to several gigabits per second, lower lag or delay, better
reliability and the ability to connect many more devices to the network at
once.
The Vodafone docklands test bed will use standardised 5G equipment supplied
by Ericsson and will be used to trial hardware, software and services
Vodafone plans to start rolling out 5G services to consumers and businesses
by the end of next year when commercial devices become available.
"What operators are doing now globally is that they are starting to roll out
5G in big cities and then you reuse all the same infrastructure that you
used for 4G, so you reuse all the sites," said Hans Hammar, Global 5G
Director at Ericsson.
"Then you gradually will deploy that over the country, but also being able
to introduce 5G within existing infrastructure, so it doesn't mean you
automatically have to deploy a completely new network.
"So from that point of view it can be quite a cost effective way of
deploying new capabilities," he said.
Eventually, Vodafone says, the technology will be used for a wide range of
applications, including self-driving cars, robotic surgery and real-time
virtual gaming.
In order to progress the production of such applications, Vodafone and
Ericsson have partnered with NovaUCD to develop a 5G accelerator programme.
It will see participants develop business plans and test the commercial
potential and feasibility of products and services.
"We want to support small business in terms of getting advice, mentoring,
access to finance and ideas," said Anne O'Leary.
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