The Dutch telco said the deployment of this technology will allow the city to deploy several smart city initiatives
The Hague is set to become the first Dutch city to receive full 5G coverage, as local carrier T-Mobile announced plans to start the roll out the technology this year.
Saskia Bruines, deputy mayor of the municipality of The Hague and Søren Abildgaard, CEO of T-Mobile Nederland, said that this deployment will enable the city to further expand its smart city projects.
The deployment of 5G technology will allow The Hague to offer innovative smart services in different areas including safety, mobility and the use of public spaces.
T-Mobile and the municipality of The Hague will be collaborating in various 5G pilots in the city in advance of the 5G roll out. The mobile carrier is providing the connectivity for this large-scale 5G trial, expected to be completed by 2020.
“Together with the municipality, we are searching for partners within and outside the city to test 5G applications that benefit the city and its residents. We are working together to investigate how we can offer residents, students and companies the best possible access to 5G and stimulate innovation in The Hague. In this first phase, we will be working on 5G applications regarding logistics and industry. This includes applications that improve the city’s accessibility by offering extremely local traffic and parking information, based on a fast and reliable 5G connection,” Abildgaard said.
“The Hague is facing a tremendous growth challenge in terms of residents and employment in the coming years,” said Bruines. “The arrival of super-fast mobile internet will open many new doors for The Hague residents and companies. By being the first city to switch fully to 5G, The Hague is demonstrating its pioneering role in this area.
“This is important for the business environment and for employment in the city. The development of new digital innovative concepts is crucial to ensure that the city remains accessible, sustainable and livable. Of course, during these developments we’ll continue to focus on issues such as safety and health,” Bruines added.
The project also stipulates the establishment of a 5G field lab in The Hague. This facility will be designed to offer schools and local companies the opportunity to experiment with 5G-based applications.
Rival carrier KPN is also currently testing 5G applications in different sectors including agriculture, ports and the automotive sector. KPN also recently carried out what it claimed to be the first 5G tests in Amsterdam in cooperation with the City of Amsterdam and Nokia. During these trials, KPN tested various 5G applications in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district. In these tests, massive MIMO technology was used to provide extreme capacity in busy areas, the European carrier said.
In association with Huawei, KPN will also investigate network slicing in the Port of Rotterdam. KPN also wants to study the possibility of using virtual reality for industrial applications in the port.
