KPN partnered with Nokia, ZTE and Huawei to test 5G in four cities
Dutch telecommunications company KPN is urging the Dutch government to make 3.5GHz spectrum available for 5G testing.
The European telco said that the availability of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band was key for use in 5G test environments. “This spectrum is crucial to successful testing of 5G applications and the introduction of 5G in the Netherlands,” the operator said in a statement.
Rival operator VodafoneZiggo had previously asked the Dutch telecom regulator to provide 3.5GHz spectrum to carry out 5G trials in the country. The European Union (EU) has designated the 3.5GHz band for the provision of 5G technology. However, this frequency is not included in the regulator’s plans for a 2019 spectrum auction.
In September 2017, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Economic Affairs announced plans to launch a national frequency auction to award mobile spectrum in the 700MHz, 1,400MHz and 2,100MHz bands next year. The Ministry confirmed that licenses will be valid for 20 years (between 2020-2040) and carry specific coverage obligations for areas of the country where mobile broadband connectivity is inadequate.
KPN recently announced its intention to carry out 5G trials this year in partnership with Nokia, ZTE and Huawei. The 5G trials will take place in four locations across the country, KPN said.
In Amsterdam, the telco aims to test 5G applications through Massive MIMO antennas at the Amsterdam Arena in partnership with Nokia. The telco said that Massive MIMO technology is designed to boost mobile internet capacity at busy locations and venues. With this deployment, the city government aims to help the arena develop better crowd management and an improved fan experience.
KPN also announced a 5G trial in the province of Drenthe in partnership with Chinese vendor ZTE. The local government and the Wageningen University will also take part in that 5G initiative.
The Dutch telco said it will use drones connected to the mobile network on a farm to assess use cases for the agriculture sector. KPN will also test mmWave technology at the farm, using an experimental permit.
In partnership with Huawei, KPN will also trial network slicing technology in Rotterdam. This specific trial will mainly focus on transport and logistics and will also trial the use of virtual reality (VR) for industrial applications.
KPN also said it will test 5G technologies on a motorway between the cities of Eindhoven and Tilburg for automotive solutions.
