Swiss telecom Sunrise, Huawei and Agroscope are teaming up to develop a smart agriculture infrastructure using 5G as the communications platform.
Huawei is preparing to work with Sunrise to test how 5G can be used to help the Swiss Future Farm in Tänikon, Switzerland. The companies will look at which technologies will be useful for Swiss agriculture and help reduce the digital gap between rural and urban areas, especially in those regions that do not currently have fiber optic connections.
While the companies are short on details regarding what farm applications will be tested using 5G, they said information will be provided at a later date.
Even though 5G is in its infancy, companies are experimenting with ways to use the technology's high speed, high capacity and low latency for applications beyond smartphones. For instance, Huawei is exploring how to use 5G to accelerate intelligent agriculture in China in a partnership with smart farming vendor XAG.
Smart farming is just one of many applications being explored for 5G. Other ideas being floated include forming incubator hubs for self-driving vehicles and smart cities, exploring how robots can go farther and do more in the field, the future of television and how to improve emergency services.