£7M investment into finding new ways of using 5G in rural Dorset

Rural Dorset is getting £7m to find innovative ways to use 5G technology across the county.

Part of the groundbreaking study will include growing the world’s first fully automated crop.

The research and development project is funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as well as Dorset Council’s industry partners.

But, it’s not just farming, Dorset Council is working to enhance Dorset’s aquaculture industry and the technology could also be used by emergency responders to improve public safety along the Jurassic Coast. The research will cover four different areas:

Agriculture

Business

Industrial innovation

Public safety

5G isn’t just about connecting your mobile to the internet. It’s hoped much faster wireless internet speeds could revolutionise many parts of the counties economy. Connecting residents to faster internet without cables is a part of the project, but leaders say it’s only scratching the surface.

Colin Wood is the project’s program manager for Dorset Council.

He said:

“We think with 5G there’s an opportunity to change the way we do mobile connectivity. So what we’re looking at is different ways of giving rural locations the connectivity that they deserve.

“We’ve really got the opportunity here to leapfrog rural Dorset forward to the latest technology, the fastest technology.

“5G has the potential to be 10 times faster than 4G. Even when we’re just thinking about mobile broadband.

“5G really does go above and beyond that, in terms of technology. It’s the ability to connect 100’s if not 1000’s of machines to the same network and have them speaking to each other, so 5G does start to make possible things like autonomous vehicles in a real world environment.”

The project will start bearing fruit in the summer, with the world’s first completely robot grown field of wheat. There are lots of other use cases that researchers will be looking in to, for instance reducing the environmental impact of farming, as well as emergency use of drones.

The project will end in March 2022.

Dorset Council Deputy Leader Peter Wharf said:

“Like many predominantly rural counties, Dorset faces significant connectivity challenges. We are delighted to be leading this important research project to investigate the innovative approaches that may help provide the future connectivity needed to support residents, businesses and visitors.”