Yahoo Finance UK’s first live holographic call conducted by Vodafone, as it outlines 5G network plans
The UK’s first live holographic call was conducted by Vodafone yesterday, as the telecom giant unveiled plans to roll out 5G telecom services to 1000 sites across Britain by 2020, raising hopes of faster broadband for rural communities.
The call from Vodafone’s Manchester office involved England and Manchester City Women’s Football Captain Steph Houghton MBE. Using 5G technology, she appeared as a live 3D hologram on stage in front of an audience 186 miles away at Vodafone's headquarters in Newbury. Houghton shared the stage with 11-year-old fan Iris, who was there in person. The footballer’s hologram talked to Iris and then showed her some footballing tips.
5G is a next generation mobile internet technology that promises to deliver faster download speeds, better connections and wider coverage. 4G downloads can reach 50 megabits per second while 5G is able to operate at speeds than are 100 times faster, which means it could be used to meet rising demand for mobile video.
At the event Vodafone also revealed is already planning to test the 5G technology in seven urban areas next month and will have 1,000 5G sites by 2020, as it squares up to rivals EE and O2. The announcement has fuelled hopes of improved broadband speeds for millions of people in remote areas of Britain.
The telecoms company said it would launch 5G in rural areas across Cornwall and the Lake District next year, with the channel islands and the Isles of Scilly being among the first rural areas in the UK to benefit from the fifth generation of mobile technology.
At the network’s Newbury headquarters, chief executive Nick Jeffrey and chief technology officer Scott Petty revealed Manchester would be the first city to get 5G.
"There is a great deal of economic value to unlock outside the main cities and we are putting our money where our mouth is," Mr Jeffrey said.
The technology will also be rolled out in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and London.
Vodafone also believes its upcoming 5G network could solve rural Britain's broadband issues, and even bring about "connected cows and connected tractors" by applying the technology to benefit agriculture across the country.
As well as its plans to increase and improve 4G coverage in rural areas, Vodafone believes its 5G network could also promote new technologies in agricultural industries in the countryside. This could include smart devices that monitor livestock and the conditions of fields, giving agricultural workers data to track their farms in real-time.
Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton are also pressing ahead with 5G trials with the help of of funding from the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).
EE, owned by BT, said it will test 5G signals on 10 mobile masts in East London in October in preparation for a wider deployment next year.
Vodafone noted that while 5G could solve rural data and broadband problems, others steps are also needed, including the need for BT to lay out more fibre optic cables and erect more masts in rural areas to improve connectivity.
A Vodafone spokesperson said: "We realise that internet and mobile connectivity in rural areas is extremely important, that is why it is one of our key focuses for our network.”
Along with the first live holographic call in the UK using 5G, Vodafone also conducted the nation’s first mobile phone call in 1985.
