Latvian operator LMT announced the start of a 5G mobility testbed, located in Latvia's “Bikernieki” race track. This will become the first cross-border mobility simulation space in Europe, using LMT and Telia Estonia's 5G networks to imitate fully functioning international connectivity.
Developing the cross-border mobility simulation space in Latvia is a part of the 5G-Routes project, an international effort to ensure cross-border automated mobility. It's also planned to use the Bikernieki space to develop and demonstrate several 5G-Routes project use cases.
The testbed in Latvia has already demonstrated its first use case. On 20 August, a tele-operated vehicle simulation was conducted remotely over LMT's 5G network from the town of Cesis 80 km away.
The 5G-Routes project, with a consortium made up of 21 partners, began work in September 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. 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 operator is responsible for ensuring uninterrupted mobile network connectivity in the 5G cross-border corridor.
LMT said it plans to deploy 100 5G base stations by the end of this year. The operator already runs more than 10 5G base stations in Riga, Kuldiga, Ogre, Sigulda and other locations.
