Vodafone launch 5G network in Ireland

5G has gone live in Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Waterford

Pro

Prof Barry O’Reilly, ASSERT and Anne O’Leary, Vodafone Ireland. Pic: Naoise Culhane

Vodafone Ireland launched commercial 5G today, making it the first mobile operation nationwide to do so.

The next-generation network has already gone live in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. The company has expressed plans to expand further in the coming months.

Vodafone users must have a 5G ready plan, 5G coverage and a 5G phone to avail of its latest offering. 5G ready smartphones will be available for purchase from Vodafone tomorrow.

Vodafone’s 5G network is fully standardised Ericsson 5G and is being deployed over its recently acquired 5G spectrum. Using Ericsson Radio System, the network can support various technologies, including artificial intelligence, the internet of things, connected cities and self-driving cars.

“5G is set to revolutionise how we use and adopt technology and will have a huge impact on businesses and society in Ireland,” said Anne O’Leary, CEO of Vodafone Ireland. “It will bring high speed, ultra-low latency and highly secure connectivity to a massive amount of devices; and is a technology that will unlock a vast array of new use cases through Vodafone’s next-generation network.”

It also announced its strategic partnership with the ASSERT (Application of the Science of Simulation to Education, Research and Medical Technology) Centre in University College Cork (UCC), making it the first 5G connected telemedicine and medial robotics training centre in the world.

According to the company, the centre will enable clinicians, industry and healthcare academics to design, develop, and trial healthcare solutions in a simulated healthcare environment. It showcases real-time monitoring, telemedicine and robotic surgery, integrated with wearable Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) based devices.

Professor Barry O’Reilly, director of ASSERT said, “5G will revolutionize medicine with rapid connectivity of the IoMT.”

The partnership will “create a global 5G incubator for the MedTech sector to test new technologies, assess 5G functionality and roll out to clinical trials providing that bridge between clinicians, research, innovation and the MedTech industry.” 

TechCentral Reporters

Read More: 5G ASSERT Ericsson medtech UCC Vodafone