Telefónica has unveiled its 5G Technological Cities project, which will lead the way to a full 5G deployment in Spain The cities of Segovia and Talavera de la Reina are the two locations in Spain where initial deployment is to begin, the project is also in partnership with Nokia and Ericsson.
“With the 5G Technological Cities project, said Luis Miguel Gilpérez, CEO of Telefónica España. “Telefónica is turning the technology of the future into reality and providing a constant service for people. This is why we will perform the technological deployment and use cases in parallel, so that we will serve people with the new technologies, one of Telefónica’s clear objectives”.
Over the next three years, Telefónica will turn the two cities into living 5G laboratories wit capabilities that include the initial 5G capacity, the deployment of the new 5G network and the development of use cases.
In addition, the new mobile generation will reach speeds of between 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps, reduce latency, to achieve a minimum of between 1 and 5 milliseconds, and provide high capacity, that has the potential of having up to 100 times more connected devices.
As for José Antonio López, chairman of Ericsson España he pointed out that “5G technology will have an enormous impact on the user experience and the digital transformation of our cities and industries. Ericsson is already working with more than 35 partners throughout the world to develop use cases to prepare the connected cities of the future. The most important ones in Spain are related to tourism, which we have worked on with FITUR and which we are currently demonstrating. One of the key aims of this project, in which we are pleased to cooperate with Telefónica and the City Council of Talavera de la Reina, will be to promote tourism, demonstrating 5G’s contribution to economic growth and the benefits Spaniards will enjoy as a result.”
The citizens of Segovia and Talavera de la Reina will be given priority on this new network and it will be deployed in urban centres that will help the cities advance towards digitisation.
Telefónica has partnered with Nokia in Segovia and Ericsson in Talavera de la Reina, as its technology partners for the project.
As part of the plan for the project, many of the 5G capabilities will be integrated into the exisiting 4G network to begin, but it will eventually become a standalone 5G network.
Along with the technical aspect of the deployment, Telefónica will develop 5G use cases with concept tests on the new services, products, experiences and business models. Tourist services with virtual and augmented reality, the automation and digitization of industrial processes, the massification of the Internet of Things, fixed radio access in rural environments, remote management of critical processes, telemedicine, mobile gaming and remote control of drones are some of the potential use cases enabled by the arrival of 5G to name a few.
"The possibilities it [5G] will offer to the society and the different sectors of the industry in its digital transformation, enabling this diversity of new applications, many of which are still to be imagined. Projects such as the one presented today by Telefónica are a great opportunity for all parties to advance on the road towards the consolidation of the digital revolution," added Álvaro Sánchez, manager of Telefónica’s account at Nokia.
Other attendees at the launch event included: Alipio García Rodríguez, managing director of telecommunications of the government of Castilla-La Mancha, Mª Victoria Seco, managing director of telecommunications of the regional ministry of public works and the environment of the government of Castile and León, David Gómez Arroyo, representative of the government of Castilla-La Mancha in Talavera de la Reina, Clara Isabel Luquero de Nicolás, Mayoress of Segovia, and Jaime Ramos Torres, mayor of Talavera de la Reina.