Last Wednesday, on the 11th September, Altice Labs held a simulation in Aveiro, at its facilities, to test the use of 5G in emergency situations, using an experimental network, installed in collaboration with Ericsson.

To illustrate some of the potentials of this technology, namely its lower latency, higher bandwidth and the fact that it enables higher user travel speeds, Altice Labs has demonstrated through the simulation of a car crash, the use of 5G communications, by relief teams in support of their intervention on the ground.

This initiative aimed to show how 5G can increase effectiveness in real situations, in this case of rescue, through the use of various equipment that provide images of the accident site, using a drone, as well as vital information of the victims in real time. Aid effectiveness, as tested in the simulacrum, also increases with 5G allowing the authorities to adapt to each specific case.

Involving the Aveiro City Civil Protection Office, the Public Security Police, the two Aveiro Volunteer Fire Corporation, the Baixo Vouga Hospital Center and the Coimbra Military Health Center, the purpose of this demonstration was to show how it can be in the future and with 5G increase effectiveness in real situations in this case of rescue. To carry out the 5G demonstration the experimental network, which ensured 5G communications, had the collaboration of Ericsson who set up a 5G E2E network. In the technological support for this simulacrum, besides the already mentioned entities Altice Labs and Ericsson, we counted on OneSource and PDM & FC. A total of 18 people were involved in this simulacrum.

This simulacrum also marks the beginning of the first phase of the 5G experimental network for the city of Aveiro, as the city is leading the Aveiro STEAM City project. This project represents the desire for the city of Aveiro to become the first fully covered with 5G by 2020.

Alcino Lavrador, managing director of Altice Labs, said in the briefing preceding this demonstration that “technology has no meaning if it is not for improving people's lives”, characterizing 5G as “the glue” for the Steam City project. “We want to demystify what this is about 5G and nothing better than doing it through these hands-on demonstrations; we want to serve as a platform for these technologies to be used by people, ”said the director.

Luís Alveirinho, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Altice Portugal, explained that “this demonstration is yet another embodiment of the advantages of the 5G network in the future, in a territory that will benefit and continue to evolve with this technology. 5G is clearly an opportunity for Portugal, an opportunity that Altice will not miss. The intense deployment of fiber optics and the modernization of base stations in recent years across the country puts us in a more comfortable position in the evolution to 5G.”

According to the objectives set by the European Commission, at least one city in each Member State will have to have 5G coverage by 2020 and create an urban platform for technological innovation that supports skills development and new business.