Telia has already launched pre-commercial 5G in two cities in Finland and aims for full commercial rollout in 2019
Nordic carrier Telia has launched a 5G network at Helsinki Airport in Finland in partnership with airport operator Finavia.
The telco said that Finavia will be its first customer to use the pre-commercial 5G network in Finland, to support a 5G-enabled robot.
The 5G-enabled robot operates in the non-Schengen area of T2 terminal. Telia and airport operator Finavia will study how passengers and airport personnel react and interact with an autonomous robot carrying out service tasks.
”The robot can deliver real-time video stream from the terminal and enable for example monitoring the terminal area through remote or autonomous control and see that everything is running as it should. The robot can also guide passengers in the terminal, and we aim to try different use cases during the project,” said Heikki Koski, chief digital officer at Finavia.
The data transmission and control of the robot is carried over a 5G base station located at the airport. The network, based on technology by Nokia, utilizes the 28 GHz frequency band, Telia said.
”5G will start with enterprise customers, especially for industrial automation and remote control. The low-latency connection and massive capacity of 5G will serve the airport well with its masses of passengers and data, and with the focus on security and fluency of services”, said Janne Koistinen, 5G program director at Telia Finland.
Telia launched a pre-commercial 5G network in Helsinki in early September. In November, the company launched 5G in the city of Oulu. In Oulu, Telia aims to create a 5G ecosystem in the Nuottasaari industrial area, allowing industrial companies and logistics operators in the area to develop new digital operating models via 5G technology.
Oulu is one of the key locations for research and development of Nokia 5G technology and mobile network products globally.
Telia’s 5G network operates on test frequencies issued by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. Commercial activity in the 5G field can be started at the beginning of 2019, when the licenses for new frequencies issued by the Government will enter into force, the company said. Telia won 5G frequencies in the 3.5 GHz frequency range in an auction which ended on Oct. 1.
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