Scotland 5G Centre header logo
  • About
    • Who We Are
      • Who we work with
  • Why Choose 5G
    • Why Choose 5G
    • Services & Facilities
      • Our Innovation Hubs
  • 5G Uses Cases & Projects
    • 5G Use Cases
    • Tay5G Project
      • Digiflec
      • Scotland Re:Design
      • The James Hutton Institute
    • DSIT 5GIR Ayrshire Project – Expression of Interest Application
    • DSIT Project: ONE SCONDA
    • DSIT Project: 5G DU Volution
    • S5GC Projects: University of Strathclyde
    • S5GC Projects: University of Glasgow
    • S5GC Projects: Infralink
  • Guides & Reports
    • Guides & Reports
      • 5G Whisky Distillery Report
  • Understanding 5G
    • Understanding 5G
    • 5G vs 4G
    • Common Misconceptions
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
  • News/Videos
    • News
    • Videos
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    Back to Past News

5G is the key to opening a clever countryside

First published in the Scotsman.

Introducing reliable digital connectivity can provide societal benefits as well as helping businesses grow. With 5G technologies and an ability to build private networks we now can make sure these benefits are realised in rural settings as well as the city. Scotland’s rural areas produce farmed salmon, the country’s biggest food export and the UK’s largest food export by value, and therefore a major contributor to our national economy.

Digital connectivity enables extensive sensors to measure water quality, PH levels and temperature. It can also support high resolution underwater video cameras to count fish or AI software for disease identification. Scotch Whisky contributes billions to the Scottish economy with 7,000 employees from rural communities. A private 5G network could support distilleries with machine operations, video monitoring and employee communications. Scotland needs to prioritise rural communities. The barriers often quoted to this taking place have previously been commercial arguments about the difficulties caused by lower population density and concerns about return on investment. However, the global pandemic has changed society’s views on where you need to be to do your job. Much of the UK’s socio-economic activity is now taking place online and high-bandwidth communication is now considered essential for doing business.

The team at the Scotland 5G centre is working with academia and industry to create parity in the adoption of digital opportunities right across the country. One example being, we are working to support new business models and scaled deployment in rural areas. With a founding partner, University of Strathclyde, and multiple supporting industry partners and collaborators, we have created a 5G ‘field lab’ at Ross Priory on the east side of Loch Lomond. This allows us to demonstrate and test how 5G radios and wide area connectivity will work in a rural location, notably building completely ‘private’ networks on shared radio spectrum.

The Ross Priory ‘field lab’ will support a testbed on the Orkney Islands, where the ‘5G New Thinking’ project will be running use cases on fixed wireless access, mobile connectivity, and applications in rural health, education, industry and business – and in all extremes of weather and climate not seen on the mainland. Our S5GConnect programme of regional hubs works closely with the public sector and small to medium sized businesses to help them scale up and adopt advanced digital communication services. In Dumfries, our first rural hub, we will have a dedicated 5G network, with advanced capabilities including a testbed for trialling innovative products, services and solutions.

Projects set to get underway include the development of agritech solutions, where sensors and drones are used to measure crop growth, animal behaviour and wellness; and remote healthcare initiatives including the use of 5G technology to support assisted living – all hugely important to support the local community and the economy.

It is time for Scotland to unlock the power of new 5G technologies and bring more connectivity to rural areas. Not only will this bridge the digital divide but will result in many significant benefits for the communities, homes, schools, and industries of Scotland’s rural areas to enjoy.

Paul Coffey is the Chief Executive of the Scotland 5G Centre.

  • Contact Us
  • Upcoming Events
  • News
  • Careers
  • Branding Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • 5G Health and Safety

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe
© The Scotland 5G Centre 2019 - 2025

Contact us

Use our online enquiry form
Or email us at:
info@scotland5gcentre.org

In partnership with

Follow us

  • © The Scotland 5G Centre 2019 - 2025
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Website by Infinite Eye

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT