The Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, Roberto Sánchez, attends the official presentation of the pilot projects that the consortium made up of Orange, Aracnocóptero, CFZ Cobots, Elewit (Grupo Red Eléctrica), Etra, Idrica, Robotnik, Visyon (MEDIAPRO Group) and other partners, is conducting in Valencia to speed up the digital transformation of Spanish industry thanks to the application of the new 5G technology standard. The event took place at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).
Valencia, June 14, 2021. The Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, Roberto Sánchez, accompanied by Carolina Pascual, the Valencian Regional Minister for Innovation, Universities, Science and the Digital Society, today attended the official presentation of the consortium made up of Orange, Visyon (MEDIAPRO Group), Robotnik, CFZ Cobots, Elewit (Grupo Red Eléctrica), Aracnocoptero, Idrica and ETRA which has been created to work on the development of various proofs of concept for future 5G technology, at the headquarters of the Universitat Politècnica de València.
The event was also attended by Luz Usamentiaga, Director of Institutional Relations, Regulation, External Communication, CSR and the Orange Foundation; Silvia Bruno, the President of the consortium and Director of Elewit, Grupo Red Eléctrica’s technological platform; and Narcís Cardona, Director of the Institute of Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications (iTEAM) at the Universitat Politécnica de València (UPV).
The project has a budget of €10 million and also includes other partners such as the Valencian Regional Government, the Valencia City Council, Cosco Shipping, Intel, Fermax, Hispasat, Viesgo, Huawei, Fivecomm and the Universitat Politècnica de València. Its objective is to seek out new applications for this new technological standard.
These extraordinary advances enable experimentation with a wide range of new services which will benefit different industries and give a decisive boost to the digital transformation of Spanish society and its business fabric. In fact, studies by the European Commission estimate that the introduction of 5G in the automotive, health, transport and utility industries alone could bring indirect returns of €14.6 billion by 2025 in Spain, in addition to creating jobs.
The pilot projects being carried out in Spain to implement 5G in the future include the 15 initiatives presented today in Valencia, the content and objectives of which can be accessed on the website: https://5gpilotosvalencia.orange.es/.
These initiatives are part of the National 5G Plan, the program for the development of 5G technology pilot projects run by the public business agency Red.es, backed by the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The objective of this Plan, which is a continuation of the 5G Technology Promotion Strategy, is to drive the definition and implementation of multiple use cases for this technology through the creation of an ecosystem of technological partners that join forces to accelerate the process to make the so-called ‘digital economy’ a reality in the near future.
5G: 15 use cases in the Valencian Region
Roberto Sánchez had the opportunity to see three examples of the 15 use cases being worked on by the members of this consortium in the Valencian Region. Progress on these cases will be reported in the near future:
- Robotics for telemedicine. In this project, Orange, Huawei, iTeam, Fivecomm and CFZ Cobots have joined forces to develop a robotic arm that will help the Valencian Oncology Institute (IVO) to remotely detect skin cancer using multispectral images processed with technology developed by the technology center, Ainia.
- Remote inspection and maintenance. In this pilot, Orange, Huawei, Robotnik, Fivecomm and the iTEAM at the UPV are developing transport robots for industry. These robots are remotely controlled via the 5G network. The aim of the project is to test how they can be used for inspection and maintenance tasks in critical areas such as electrical and railway infrastructures, where very high levels of reliability and safety are required.
- Fleet management. Robotics (AGVs). The purpose of this initiative is to test the performance of remotely connected and controlled autonomous robots in building more efficient distribution chains. Located in the Juan Carlos I Business Park and in the Fermax production plant in Valencia, these robots, which are also equipped with Intel cameras, will be testing the effectiveness of 5G connections, both in indoor and outdoor environments, in order to evaluate the viability of automating industrial processes and reducing costs. In this use case, the partners are Orange, Intel, Robotnik, Fivecomm and the iTeam institute at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).
5G technology opens up major opportunities for development, progress and a sustainable future thanks to the remarkable improvements it brings in terms of speed and bandwidth (with speeds of over 100 Mb/s and peaks of up to 1 Gb/s), ultra-low latency (around 1 millisecond, compared to 20-30 ms for 4G networks) and the ability to connect millions of devices in real time, to name just a few.
“One of the most significant differences between the use cases presented today at the event and others that have been demonstrated previously in other pilots is their highly practical application in industry, logistics, transportation, safety and monitoring processes, as well as in remote medical diagnoses. The key to the success of 5G in Spain lies in addressing these less common areas of application in mobile communications which take advantage of many of the features of the 5G standard, created essentially to connect machines and devices,” said Narcís Cardona, the Director of iTEAM at the Universitat Politècnica de València.
Silvia Bruno, President of the consortium and Director of Elewit, the technological platform of Grupo Red Eléctrica, stated that “5G is set to open up a broad range of opportunities for the industrial, economic and social networks in our country. At Elewit, Grupo Red Eléctrica’s technological platform, we foster its development as a key instrument to reach full connectivity by promoting our own innovative projects, which lever external talent and expertise. The experiences that we are presenting today in Valencia show, once again, the commitment of all the companies in the consortium in catalyzing this new generation of connectivity, in an agile and efficient way, through technology and innovation. This is essential for digitally transforming the productive sectors of our economy.”
“A new world of applications is opening up that is set to revolutionize the way we connect. We still don’t know even a fraction of 5G’s full potential. Orange is a decisive player in this revolution, and this is why we are working on different initiatives and projects in Valencia which are testing and developing future services such as remote support for emergencies, 360º tourism with the use of robotics and drones, industry 4.0 and smart cities through widespread use of sensors that will make the urban ecosystem much more efficient. In short, 5G technology opens up a whole new world of opportunities which seem to be almost infinite right now. Those of us who are involved in carrying out these pilot projects being presented today aim to play a leading role in exploring them,” said Luz Usamentiaga, Director of Institutional Relations, Regulation, External Communication, CSR and the Orange Foundation.
Idrica: use case based on MIoT
One of the use cases is the one that Orange, Huawei, iTeam and Idrica, through its technological solution GoAigua, are developing for Global Omnium. This pilot reads meter consumption in real time and sends information via the 5G network to the management center for analysis, pricing and information processing.
The project involves measuring 30 meters distributed in different locations on the UPV campus. Some of them are indoors, so the use of the 700 MHz node will be required to ensure coverage. The results obtained will be used to draw conclusions about the capacity of 5G to connect millions of devices in the future and to pre-empt the detection of risks and emergencies thanks to real-time meter readings.
Consortium members
Partners
