Telefonica to launch 5G pilot project in two Spanish cities

Spanish telecommunications firm Telefonica has unveiled its 5G technological cities project, which will pave the way for the future deployment of 5G technology in Spain. Under this initiative, Telefonica has partnered with European vendors Nokia and Ericsson for the initial deployment of 5G capabilities in the cities of Segovia and Talavera de la Reina.

Telefónica aims to convert the two Spanish cities into living laboratories over the next three years, with capabilities including the initial 5G capacity, the deployment of the new network and the development of use cases allowing their citizens and companies to benefit from the advantages of 5G.

Nokia will deploy 5G infrastructure in Segovia while Ericsson will focus on network deployments in Talavera de la Reina, Telefonica said.

The Spanish operator said these two initial deployments will allow it to adapt its systems for the future rollout of 5G systems across the rest of the country. The telco also said that 5G use cases will be developed with concept tests on the new services, products, experiences and business models.

The above includes the work performed jointly with SEAT and FICOSA on connected car applications. These applications connect vehicles to the road infrastructure and citizens, in order to improve safety and traffic management.

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, the telco said.

“With the 5G technological cities project, 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,” said Luis Miguel Gilpérez, CEO of Telefónica España.

“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,” said José Antonio López, chairman of Ericsson Spain. “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.”

In November 2017, Telefonica and Chinese vendor ZTE had completed the first phase of a 5G transport test at the Spanish operator’s Future Networks Lab in Madrid. In the test, the vendor provided its new 5G Flexhaul transport solution integrating fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul features.

The two companies said that they will focus on additional transport testing and will also perform further tests and verification for 5G end-to- end solutions.