Ooredoo is demonstrating how 5G can revolutionise transport, with the world’s first ‘5G-enabled self-driving 5G connected Aerial taxi’ landing at its booth at the Mobile World Congress 2019 (MWC19).
MWC19 is being held in Barcelona until February 28 under the theme “Intelligent Connectivity” and is expected to attract some 107,000 professionals from more than 200 countries and territories.
The aerial taxi, which is on display at Ooredoo’s booth – complete with a ‘virtual reality’ experience that simulates flying over Doha – is just one example of how 5G is poised to help bring about a complete transformation of society.
The self-driving 5G connected aerial taxi is not the only futuristic service on show that will leverage the superior speed and low latency of 5G. Ooredoo is also offering live demonstrations of how the technology can enable innovative services including child location monitoring, stadium security using drones, and intelligent connected apps to assist visitors at mega events such as the upcoming football tournament in Qatar in 2022.
Over the past year, Ooredoo launched the world’s first commercial 5G network in Qatar, and trialled the first international 5G call in the Arab World.
Ooredoo has now more than 100 live 5G sites in Qatar. It has done 5G tests and trials in Indonesia, Kuwait and Maldives and has set up a 5G Technology Centre in Myanmar.
Ooredoo Group chief executive officer Sheikh Saud bin Nasser al-Thani said, “We took an early global lead in 5G technology when we were the world’s first communications company to launch commercially-ready 5G in 2018. In this year’s Mobile World Congress, we’re anticipating great interest in our 5G demos, particularly the self-driving 5G connected Aerial Taxi at our pavilion, where users can sit inside the taxi and experience the thrill of flying over Doha in Virtual Reality.
“We are proud to showcase Qatar’s leadership in 5G and Smart City applications, and show a world of future-oriented services, which fits perfectly with MWC19’s theme of ‘Intelligent Connectivity’.”
Ooredoo is preparing 1,200 network stations to be 5G-ready, spreading the benefits of the technology nationwide in Qatar.