14 January 2019

The vendor's Metnet 60GHz radios have been installed on existing street furniture across Bath city centre.

A trial network that uses unlicensed 'millimetre wave' frequencies has gone live in Bath.

It features radios from Cambridge Communication Systems (CCS). Each of these is said to deliver 12Gbps as part of a gigabit backhaul network to support interactive 5G smart tourism applications using AR and VR technologies.

CCS' Metnet 60GHz units have been deployed across Bath city centre. They have been installed on existing urban streets assets to extend fibre connections and provide low latency, high-speed wireless connectivity.

According to the firm, the nodes were rapidly deployed in just one day by electrical contractors and without the need to frequency plan or manually align antennas.

CCS claims the Metnet’s discreet, single-unit form factor with highly integrated technology was able to meet all key requirements and satisfy stringent local planning restrictions, resulting in a smooth and swift roll out.

Executive chairman Martin Harriman says: 'This cutting-edge network demonstrates innovative use of the new 57-71GHz unlicensed band, and highlights the huge potential for the 14GHz of spectrum – recently opened up by Ofcom – for enabling the delivery of ubiquitous high-speed connectivity through gigabit 5G fixed wireless access services.

CCS says the deployment and go-live of the trial marks a key milestone in the 5G Smart Tourism project being delivered in Bath and Bristol.

This is led by the West of England Combined Authority and supported by a £5m competition award from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The project brings together 25 organisations and will see the development of a testbed to demonstrate 5G capabilities.

It aims to establish the West of England as a world-leader in the development of advanced fixed and mobile communication systems.

The 5G technology test network is being delivered by consortium partners which, as well as CCS, also include BT, Zeetta, InterDigital, and the University of Bristol's Smart Internet Lab. They will demonstrate self-provisioning technologies for 5G and Wi-Fi.

AR and VR content and technology capabilities will be provided by the BBC and Aardman with support from the University of Bristol.