Two radio cells of T-Mobile Austria have started operating according to the new 5G standard. The network transmits at a rate of 2 GB per second and has a latency of 3 milliseconds, staying true to 5G’s promise of Super-fast network response time and extremely high bandwidths.
Tyrol’s Governor, Günther Platter, has commented on the initiative: “I am incredibly proud to see Tyrol at the forefront of digitization. Our bandwidth initiative has laid the groundwork for building out the 5G network going forward. I am particularly pleased that Innsbruck will be a first pilot region. Looking ahead, Tyrol plans to launch a task force with all operators to further accelerate the 5G rollout.”
We chose Innsbruck back in 2009 as the pioneering city for the fourth-generation mobile communication and rolled out the first test network of the then new technology LTE on air. Nine years later we are showing in Innsbruck the next evolutionary stage of mobile communication: 5G live in the city center rather than in the laboratory. Our tests are a vital milestone toward rapidly rolling out 5G in Austria. – Rüdiger Köster, CTO T-Mobile, Austria
T-Mobile is operating in the frequency spectrum of 3.7 Gigahertz with equipment from technology partner Huawei and fiber-optic infrastructure of Innsbruck’s municipal companies to provide a 5G pre-standard network which is very similar to the global 3GPP standard for 5G New Radio.
T-Mobile is using Europe’s inaugural 5G drone flight to demonstrate the efficiency of a super-fast 5G connection. While drones are equipped to travel on pre-programmed routes, the new and fast 5G connection will help the drone maintain better contact with controllers during unpredictable rescue missions, along with allowing it to transmit high-resolution camera images in real time.
The upcoming frequency auction will determine just how fast 5G can be rolled out in Austria. A simple auction design that reduces complexity, the national award of licenses with adjacent frequency spectrum, and support for collaborative ventures are essential to delivering 5G rapidly in Austria. – Rüdiger Köster, T-Mobile CTO
It has also used a virtual reality application, a 360-degree camera with 8K resolution transmitting images to VR glasses, by way of an example, to demonstrate the network’s speed. While the high-speed data rate allows real-time transmission of the high-resolution 360-degree images to the VR glasses, a rapid latency ensures that the reaction time between the glasses and the camera is minimum, allowing the user to change viewing angles so soon as he turns his head while wearing the VR glasses.
