The Italian telco carried out the 5G call in collaboration with Qualcomm and Ericsson
Italian telco TIM said it has completed what it claims to be the first European 5G New Radio video call in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson. TIM has also opened an innovation hub in Rome, dedicated to 5G.
The Italian telco said that the call has been completed on the TIM network in millimeter wave spectrum. The 5G video call was conducted at mmWave spectrum in NR mode using a mobile smartphone form-factor test device powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem, while the network infrastructure components were provided by Ericsson.
During the event, TIM showcased new 5G solutions including a remote-driven car; remote control of industrial robots; and a remote tactile control system, as well as multi-player interactive video games in augmented reality.
The demonstration of the remote-driven car with 5G was held in an area within the TIM Innovation Hub in Rome where a remote driving station has been placed, and an area in Turin outside the TIM Open Air Lab innovation center where the car was moving remotely. Spectators in front of the station in Rome were able to observe the driving experience 700 km away.
TIM said that the car control platform collected data and multimedia contents from multiple sensors, cameras and radars in real time, transmitting them to the remote station via the 5G network using enhanced mobile broadband for video streaming and low-latency for control commands.
The carrier aims to attract a whole ecosystem of companies, startups, R&D centers and other stakeholders interested in the development of 5G technologies and associated services to its new Rome 5G innovation hub.
“When we started to define the strategy and the development plans for 5G, we immediately realized that such a massive challenge could not be faced without the support of a wide range of partners committed to the same goal. We therefore proposed Qualcomm Technologies set up a place where work on the new 5G services and every business idea could find a quick realization thanks to the support of leading international technology players, innovative partners and start-ups from the local and national ecosystem,” said Mario Di Mauro, chief strategy, innovation & customer experience officer at TIM.
In related news, rival telco Vodafone Italia said its 5G network in Milan has been expanded to cover 80% of the city’s population via 120 active sites, Italian press reported, citing the company’s CEO Aldo Bisio.
Vodafone has already invested nearly $100 million to carry out the 5G trial in Milan, according to the report.
Bisio also said that Vodafone was currently working with around 38 industrial and institutional partners including Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Altran and IBM, as well as Milan’s Politecnico university, on 41 projects in various areas including health and security.
Vodafone and TIM are currently in talks to jointly build a 5G network in Italy, according to a recent report by Bloomberg. The main goal of the construction of a shared 5G network infrastructure would be to share the cost of the deployment as well as accelerate the construction. The two Italian carriers have signed a non-disclosure agreement about the potential collaboration to construct a shared 5G network, with the aim of reaching a final agreement in the first quarter of next year.
The partnership could include sharing wireless towers and radio equipment and potentially granting each other access to the 5G spectrum the two operators purchased in this year’s auction, according to the report.
