News
The drone carries a miniaturised 5G base station, providing search teams with vital connectivity when operating in remote areas
For most of us in the UK, mobile coverage is taken for granted. By 2021, 4G networks from at least one of the country’s operators reached 92% of the UK’s landmass, a figure expected to increase to 95% by 2025, largely because of the public–private Shared Rural Network scheme.
But despite this steady progress, there are still rural areas – around 4% of the UK’s landmass, in fact – that have little to no mobile signal at all. Perhaps it is no coincidence that it is also these remote regions where people most often get lost or injured, requiring assistance from search and rescue teams.
Now, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) is looking to address this challenge, using a drone equipped with a small mobile base station to deliver 5G connectivity to search and rescue teams in Warwickshire.
VMO2’s 5G Technical Trials team developed the drone solution leveraging low-Earth orbit satellites to power the 5G base station, which can then deliver mobile connectivity to the surrounding area.
The drone can be quickly deployed wherever connectivity is needed, giving the rescue teams access to mission-crucial data in real time.
“This project is a further example of how fresh-thinking and 5G technologies can be combined to provide real societal benefits,” said David Owens, Head of Technical Trials at Virgin Media O2. “The solution has the potential to transform how search and rescue teams operate and respond to life-threatening situations, enabling them to make faster and more decisive decisions. We’re enormously proud that our connectivity is able to help these teams to save lives.”
Warwickshire Search and Rescue is an operational Lowland Rescue team set up to assist the police with searches for vulnerable missing persons within Warwickshire and beyond. The team responded to 65 callouts in 2022, up 45% from 2020, and has already seen a further 65 callouts in 2023 so far.
“The Warwickshire Search and Rescue team do such vital work for our local community by assisting the police in searching for missing people. This new solution from Virgin Media O2 will help the team on these missions and ultimately save many lives. It is further evidence of the positive impact improved connectivity can have upon our society,” said Councillor Andy Crump, Portfolio Holder for Fire & Rescue and Community Safety at Warwickshire County Council.
This is the latest of many drone projects from VMO2, which has already been trialling a different type of emergency services drone in partnership with the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre in Wales.
Indeed, the concept of using drone-mounted base stations to provide connectivity in an emergency is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in more rural markets where existing connectivity infrastructure is limited. In Australia, for example, Vocus has begun testing a similar though seemingly more heavy-duty drone solution, which is tethered to an external power supply and can carry up to 15kg of equipment alongside the connectivity hardware.
Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter.
Also in the news:
It’s time for action: COP28 and keeping 1.5°C alive
Mitratel snaps up 803 telecoms towers for $113m
Sateliot partners with t42 to sign 5G IoT Maritime deal
