NEWS Umeå is first in Sweden to build a 5G infrastructure for a faster and more secure internet connection, and not least opportunities for new digital products and services. Umeå University, as one of five collaborative partners in this initiative, will be the first 5G university in Europe.
Umeå 5G is a venture to establish Umeå as Sweden's first 5G city. Umeå city as a whole will form a test environment for the development of new digital products and services to benefit society and citizens.
"Beside IT based solutions that can be developed and tested using the new 5G technology, Umeå University will also be given an opportunity to do research in this field. Also, the interaction between researchers, teachers and students provides whole new opportunities. Access to a 5G city will be unique, says Katrine Riklund, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University.
Since Västerbotten County Council and Umeå municipality are also parts of the project, it will also be possible to test and develop technology that has mutual uses between the organisations.
This 5G technology is facilitating for many new services such as smart properties, smart networks, consumer electronics, Internet of Things, communication for connected vehicles, and more. In health care, the technology provides opportunities for patients and relatives to take part in health care at a distance. For instance, health applications to keep check on your own or relatives' vital signs and more secure, faster and automated communications between medical equipment and medical staff.
One benefit of the 5G technology is how it can manage large amounts of data in new and more advanced ways. It gives extremely fast connections with very low delay, improved security compared to what present-day network solutions can offer, and at a lower cost and reduced energy consumption.
The five public actors who are running this venture in a partnership are Umeå municipality, Umeå University, Umeå Energi and the Västerbotten County Council, as well as the project owner, Umeå Science Park.
• The technology can offer an internet speed between 1 and 10 GB/second, which is between 10 and 100 times faster compared to 4G networks.
• Extremely short delays, down to one millisecond.
• Supports a hundred times more connected devices.
• 99.999% availability, which makes 5G much more stabile than for instance LAN or Wifi.
• 90% reduced energy consumption in the network.
• Up to 10 years battery life in electricity-saving devices.
Umeå is already a world leader in broadband and Internet connectivity. In 2011, Umeå was named the fastest broadband city in Europe and North America, ranked 15 on the world list, hit by only a few Asian IT cities. Umeå will be the first 5G city in Sweden.
