Latvian network operator Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT) has set up a 5G mobility innovation testbed at the Bikernieki racetrack in the capital city of Riga.
Claimed as the first-ever cross-border mobility simulation space in Europe, the plan is to use Latvia’s LMT and Estonia’s Telia 5G networks to imitate fully functioning international connectivity.
The newly launched 5G mobility testbed in Latvia has already demonstrated its first use case – on August 20, 2021, a teleoperated vehicle simulation was conducted remotely over LMT's 5G network from the town of Cesis 80km away, the company said.
According to a press release from the mobile telecommunications operator, the testbed is a part of the 5G-Routes project, an international effort to ensure cross-border automated mobility, and to develop and demonstrate several 5G-Routes project use cases.
The 5G-Routes project, with a consortium made up of 21 partners, began work on September 1, 2020. The project aims to validate 5G field trials on the “Via Baltic North'' 5G cross-border corridor, spanning the borders of three EU countries – Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. Therefore, the project's consortium members are working in close cooperation to ensure the successful development of the 5G-Routes objectives, said the release.
Within the scope of the 5G-Routes project, LMT coordinates the implementation of the 5G infrastructure across the three countries' test sites in collaboration with 5G-Routes partners such as Ericsson, Telia, and others. Additionally, the Latvian mobile innovator is responsible for ensuring uninterrupted mobile network connectivity in the 5G cross-border corridor.
