Glasgow and London Underground May Trial 5G Infotainment
A joint £2.4m UK project with South Korea looks set to trial how ultrafast 5G wireless data connections could be used to support “uninterrupted infotainment services” (i.e. travel services, entertainment and advertising) for commuters travelling around the Glasgow Metro, as well as possibly the London Underground.
The project – due to run from August 2019 to March 2021 – is part of a private and public sector consortium called 5G RailNext, which is being led by Cisco and various other organisations (e.g. British SMEs Soluis and Ampletime, the University of Strathclyde and Glasgow City Council).
Apparently this it will aim to deliver Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) content – including travel information, video streaming and gaming – through wearable devices such as headsets. All of this forms part of the Government’s wider 5G Testbeds and Trials (5GTT) programme.
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The first live deployment of this 5G based mobile infotainment service into a subway environment is due to take place across the Seoul Metro system in South Korea, although this will be followed by a similar trial with the Glasgow Metro. Assuming all goes well then there are plans to explore a similar rollout on the London Underground and New York Metro.
Margot James MP, Digital Minister, said:
“5G is the future of connectivity and we want the UK to be a world leader. This collaboration with South Korea will explore innovative ways to use the technology to deliver content and services on transport networks in Seoul and Glasgow.
I’m delighted that this will create new partnership and business opportunities for UK SMEs, academia and local government.”
The government has also posted a general update on the status of various projects in their 5GTT programme (here), which amongst other things notes that the Rural Connected Communities (RCC) project should get moving this summer with a competition.
The RCC aims to “promote demand for services from consumers, enterprises and the public sector in rural areas and will also explore how ”neutral host” infrastructure sharing and spectrum sharing can be used to improve the incentives to invest.” A range of 5G-enabled technical solutions and commercial models are expected to be tested.
Mind the gap.
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Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Glasgow doesn’t have a Metro, its the Subway.
This is unbelievable, no one is considering the potential risks to health, there is already a rise , near epedemic ,in brain tumors, and in a public space no one has the ability to choose. Just so people can stare at a phone. And make money. The health risks are potentially horrendous with 5G.
No proven risks.
Greatest known risk is disruption to equipment that measures frequencies in the 5g range (like some weather equipment).
It seems 5G has mutated your brain, everyone else seems fine though.
@Movana
There is a really helpful article in the New York Times today that debunks the myths around the claimed negative health impacts of 5G, no doubt to the dismay of RT America (Russia Today), which has used the story to spread a great deal of fake news across the Internet.
It’s well worth a read, explains that, much like the fake news “anti-vax” stories, its root cause is faulty research.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/science/5g-cellphones-wireless-cancer.html
I presume they would use a leaky feeder to provide coverage on the London Underground? I’m surprised this hasn’t already happened?