“I think 5G is like any other technology, we need to see and evaluate if it adds more value. It is too early to tell. We have to test [the network],” says Anja Hendel, director of innovation management and digital transformation at Porsche, on the sidelines of the fifth annual Innovfest Unbound last week. The German automaker started testing autonomous driving in Ludwigsburg with start-up Kopernikus Automotive earlier this year. The test project aims to facilitate autonomous driving within its premises. If successful, it could be applied to quickly transport Porsche’s sports cars within its assembly workshops, guided from a tablet. The use of a 5G network could enable remote-monitoring and prevent communication breakage, especially in city centres surrounded by skyscrapers.
SINGAPORE (July 8): Singapore is setting aside $40 million for 5G technology and innovation, and one of the key areas in which the city state wants to test the raw technology is urban mobility. Industry players are cautiously optimistic about its potential but warn that it is still too early to tell how the high-speed, low-latency network will shape future urban mobility.
Singapore has joined the list of countries rushing to get a head start on the 5G network. South Korea, Switzerland, Bahrain and the UK have all launched some commercial 5G mobile network services. Compared with existing mobile networks, 5G networks can transmit larger volumes of data at significantly higher speeds, opening up more usage possibilities than just making phone calls.
