LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY (GlobeNewswire). Telenor announced that it has launched the world’s northernmost 5G pilot on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, where the new standard will be tested against the rigors of the Arctic climate. The pilot will launch on October 20.
When 4G was introduced to Norway in 2012, residents of the Artic archipelago of Svalbard were among the first to test the technology. As the dawn of the 5G standard breaks, residents of the island community will again be among the first in the country to test the next generation network.
Telenor intends to use 2019 to experiment, explore, and learn as much as possible about 5G. This is why Svalbard’s Arctic’s landscape of glaciers, mountains and fjords, and the tundra climate presents unique conditions for Telenor to learn as much as possible about the geographical and topographical challenges faced by the new mobile network prior to commercial launch in 2020.
“Svalbard is a unique region in the global context, and the ideal location for testing the super network of the future. We are starting small and will extend the pilot to include some very interesting user areas in the longer-term. This is an exciting time for the residents of Svalbard, as well as us at Telenor,” said Petter Furberg, CEO of Telenor Norway.
Telenor’s 5G pilot in Svalbard will include testing of broadband via 5G and 5G on mobile handsets.
Subject already to extreme weather conditions, rendered even more difficult as a result of climate change, 5G can prove a particularly vital technology in a location such as Svalbard. As a result, Telenor is now considering testing drones, emergency networks. and 360-degree cameras over 5G on the archipelago.
“Drones can play a completely different role to their present one thanks to 5G. For example, it will be possible to communicate and share real-time data with teams on the ground far more efficiently. This will strengthen preparedness, response times, and efficiency for rescue missions. An emergency network based on 5G will inspire far more confidence in the emergency services, as they will have better control of its use, capacity, security, and monitoring,” said Furberg.
Since early 2019, Telenor has been running a pilot project in Svalbard, using innovative technology to provide better indications of impending avalanches. In partnership with the University Centre in Svalbard, snow measurers equipped with IoT sensors have been developed. The first of these measuring stations has been deployed in the area around Longyearbyen using Telenor’s 4G network and the Narrowband IoT technology.
With the launch of the 5G pilot on Svalbard, there is an evaluation under way to determine how avalanche warning work can also be further developed.
Svalbard is one of 10 Norwegian locations that will get 5G over the course of this year including Elverum, Kongsberg, Oslo, and Trondheim. Also in Scandinavia, earlier this year, Telenor Denmark announced the commencement of 5G trials with Nokia for Telenor’s Scandinavian operations, and has since then successfully made the first 5G call over the network in addition to achieving test download speeds of 1-GB per second.
In Asia, Telenor’s Thai operation, dtac, began 5G tests over 28-GHz spectrum on its premises in Bangkok while Telenor’s Malaysian operation, Digi, has partnered with Cyberview to open a 5G lab in the country. The ‘OpenLab’ will be a collaborative space for businesses academics and developers to test new 5G use cases.