Region to 5G test for digital economy

News - 14 March 2019 - Communication

Self-driving buses, drones that monitor the progress of greenhouse crops, robots in factories: soon they will all be able to use 5G, a more reliable and faster digital communications network. The Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam/The Hague (MRDH) is joining TU Delft, the Holland Rijnland region, the municipalities of Delft and Katwijk, TNO and the Province of Zuid-Holland to invest in field-lab research into 5G applications.

Zuid-Holland has a good basic digital infrastructure that meets the current requirements of many applications. In the future, though, more will be needed. The ‘Internet of Things’, in which large numbers of devices exchange information via wireless connections, demands super-fast connections with high reliability and short response times. 5G, the new generation of mobile communication networks, offers such connections. The network will be able to be divided up, allowing customised use for specific sectors and users. Rolling out 5G will begin in 2020 when the first frequencies will be auctioned. The MRDH is investing 200,000 euros in the Zuid-Holland 5G Field Lab in Delft and 200,000 euros in the Scheveningen Living Lab in The Hague for research into the 5G infrastructure and its applications.

Zuid-Holland 5G Field Lab

The 5G Field Lab is an open platform focused on developing and using 5G. The lab offers researchers, large and small businesses, startups and students the opportunity to develop accessible new 5G applications. The 5G Field Lab will be located at The Green Village on the TU Delft Campus.
It will offer opportunities to other initiatives in the region. If the test of an application is success, it will be possible to try it out on a larger scale at the Scheveningen Living Lab. The Municipality of Katwijk and the Holland Rijnland region are also working with the 5G Field Lab. Testing 5G applications for drones is being carried out at Unmanned Valley Valkenburg.

More information

See the full news article (in Dutch) on the MRDH website: https://mrdh.nl/nieuws/regio-zet-testen-5g-digitale-economie