Virgin Media O2 noted its 5G technical teams have developed a small base station for drone use cases
U.K. carrier Virgin Media O2 has developed a 5G-connected drone to help search and rescue teams establish reliable communication in the most remote areas of the country.
The telco said that the Warwickshire Search and Rescue team is the first team to trial the new 5G technology.
In rural areas, such as parts of Warwickshire, emergency services and rescue teams often struggle to establish reliable communication when working in the most remote areas not served by traditional mobile networks. This scenario makes it extremely difficult for rescue teams and the police to stay connected on time-critical rescue missions, the telco said.
Virgin Media O2’s 5G technical teams have developed a small base station for drone use cases, enabling reliable 5G connectivity using a network of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to reach rural areas where rescue teams lack access to traditional mobile network infrastructure. This allows the rescue team to access essential information, communicate with one another, assess situations at speed and easily locate and save those in danger, the telco said.
Warwickshire Search and Rescue is an operational Lowland Rescue team set up to assist the police with searches for vulnerable missing persons within Warwickshire and beyond. The team responded to 65 callouts in 2022, up 45% from 2020, and has already seen a further 65 callouts in 2023 so far
David Owens, head of technical trials at Virgin Media O2 said: “This project is a further example of how fresh-thinking and 5G technologies can be combined to provide real societal benefits. The solution has the potential to transform how search and rescue teams operate and respond to life-threatening situations, enabling them to make faster and more decisive decisions. We’re enormously proud that our connectivity will be able to help these teams to save lives.”
Last month, Virgin Media O2 had reached an agreement to sell a 16.67% minority stake in its mobile tower joint venture, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited, to the U.K.-based infrastructure fund, GLIL Infrastructure.
Cornerstone is the U.K.’s largest mobile towers business, consisting of a nationwide network used by both Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone UK as anchor tenants. The company owns and manages around 20,000 sites spread across both urban and rural locations in the U.K.
The telco highlighted that Cornerstone will remain a critical supplier to Virgin Media O2, and this transaction will not impact the existing commercial network sharing agreement between Vodafone UK and Virgin Media O2.
Virgin Media O2’s 5G network reached 1,600 towns and cities across the country as of the end of last year. The telco previously said it was on track to deliver 5G services to 50% of the U.K. population during 2023.
Virgin Media O2 had launched services in June 2021 as a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica in the U.K.
