Live holographic call heralds 5G trials in seven UK cities

(20 Sep 2018) LEADIN:
Super-fast 5G networks are set to be trialled across seven UK cities.
Telecommunications company Vodafone announced its plans to roll out 5G technology, along with a live holographic call, claimed to be a first in the UK.
STORYLINE:
It’s Manchester City and England Women’s captain, Steph Houghton as she’s never been seen before.
The English footballer’s appearance is being beamed from Manchester to Newbury – about 160 miles (260 kilometres) – as part of a live demonstration of 5G connectivity.
Vodafone claims the live holographic call to be a UK first.
During the call, she was able to chat with 11-year-old football fan, Iris Atkinson and Vodafone’s Anne Sheehan. She was even able to show off her ball skills.
“Keeping the ball nice and close to your feet, keep your eyes on the ball, try to use both feet as much as you can. Don’t drop it like that,” she says.
It’s a glimpse of the potential of high-speed 5G networks.
Experts say 5G will enable everything from remote surgery and self-driving cars, to virtual reality and 4K gaming on the go.
“Well, I think we’ll definitely be talking about new ways to communicate and much more immersive experiences, taking ultra-high definition content and making that available to people on their devices,” says Scott Petty, chief technology officer at Vodafone UK.
“A holographic call is a great category of what we’ll be able to do, particularly through virtual reality headsets or augmented reality headsets in the near term.
“And then, in the longer term, the full immersive room system that you saw enabling people to interact in totally different ways to the way they do today.”
5G is a wireless connection that will give devices a faster and more reliable internet connection.
It’s hoped the technology will offer speeds of about 20 Gigabits per second – that could mean download speeds 40-times faster than 4G.
“5G is critical for us to offer the fastest possible network we can,” says Petty.
“We know when we give customers more speed and better-quality services, they use more services. That’s just a simple reality.
“Maps works better, videos work better, they consume more and enjoy that service much, much better. So, having a faster network is absolutely critical. 5G is the way we’re going to take that forward into the future.”
At Vodafone’s ‘Future Ready’ event, the telecommunications company announced plans to conduct 5G tests in seven cities, the first being Manchester and Birmingham.
It plans to invest 2 billion British pounds (approx. $2.65 billion USD) in 4G and 5G network infrastructure in the coming years.
One challenge may be the lack of compatible mobile devices.
But Vodafone UK’s chief executive Nick Jeffery says they expect 5G-ready smartphones to begin hitting shelves from 2019 onwards.
“I think with any new technology roll out, whether it’s 3G, 4G or 5G, of course, it’s new. It needs to be tested, it needs to be integrated,” he says.
“And it’s great to have the network, but the network, of course, needs the devices.
“So, there’s a whole set of ecosystems which need to be developed over time. When they come together, it delivers a good experience for customers, and that’s what we’re seeing on 4G now. 5G while evolve and it will happen again on 5G.”
Vodafone’s 5G demonstration and hologram call follows a similar demonstration staged between Seoul and New Jersey in April last year.
Analyst Kester Mann from CCS Insight says Europe is lagging behind competitors in the United States and Asia.
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