January 25, 2022

Nigeria has launched her National Policy on 5G barely 48 hours after Telstra and Ericsson announced Australian not-for-profit AgriFood Connect as the first to deploy a private 5G network produced by the Swedish vendor, with a focus on industrial IoT (IIoT) for the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Ericsson stated its private 5G product was combined with Telstra’s network to provide a platform for industrial mobile connectivity capable of providing low-latency, better resiliency and capacity.

The vendor added AgriFood Connect’s deployment is a world first for its private 5G product.

Thomas Hall, AgriFood Connect’s acting CEO, explained it would use the network to demonstrate advanced technologies to enterprises across agriculture and manufacturing, sectors the organisation typically offers help covering digital transformation and operational enhancement.

Telstra and AgriFood Connect plan to build on their IIoT work by providing asset monitoring and predictive maintenance, reports The Mobile World Live.

Ericsson’s set-up employs an on-site server, enabling sites which are not near data centres to deliver advanced services including video analytics.

Emilio Romeo, head of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand, cited autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), AI, automation, drone technology, and AR and VR as potential use cases for private 5G.

On Tuesday President Muhammadu Buhari set the tone for a new experience in 5G when he officially launched the National Policy on 5G which he said would bolster security and other national development areas.