Fastweb, Ericsson unveil first 5G connected bus in Rome trial

Italian operator Fastweb and network partner Ericsson have teamed up with Rome’s public transport company Atac to present what the partners described as the capital’s first 5G connected bus. The urban mobility trial is the latest ‘use case’ conducted under the Roma5G smart city venture launched by Fastweb and Ericsson back in 2017 and follows the 5G-backed artistic heritage platform presented earlier this year. In a statement, Fastweb said the system is designed to ensure safety on board Atac’s buses and provide real-time diagnostics of the conditions of the vehicle, detailed information on traffic flows, automated management of traffic lights as well as travel times and other information via a passenger app, all powered by 5G technology.

To guarantee the safety of passengers, a video surveillance platform was set up to monitor and report potentially dangerous situations in real time via 3 on board video cameras transmitting high definition images to the Atac control centre. The platform will alert Atac staff to the presence of weapons, unattended luggage or possible panic among passengers while preventing ticket evasion and collecting data on the flow of travellers.

The 5G trial used 26Ghz frequencies and a fibre-optic transport network made available by Fastweb to transmit real-time data and video images to Ericsson's IoT platform. Additional tests were held of a smart traffic management system to prioritise public transport and a smartphone app giving passengers useful information on estimated waiting times based on real traffic conditions, the number of people on board and free places available.