SES said it’s providing satellite fleet capacity, ground infrastructure and products to the Telenor-led project ‘5G Verticals Innovation Infrastructure (5G-VINNI).’ These contributions will enable 5G demonstrations and validation of the target 5G Key Performance Indicators and use cases. The project will explore products in areas such as public safety, e-health, shipping, transportation, media and entertainment, and automotive.

The 5G-VINNI project is supported by the EU’s 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP) Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, and is aiming to accelerate the uptake of 5G in Europe. The project is led by Telenor Group and comprises 23 partners including leading mobile network operators (MNOs) and industry vendors. Among key 5G-VINNI objectives are to design 5G end-to-end facility and interworking sites, to provide user friendly orchestration, and to develop a viable business model to demonstrate the value of 5G products and enable their widespread adoption.

SES is committed to the advancement of 5G and the development of 5G standards for the satellite industry. Other key SES projects include a successful live demonstration of integrating satellite into 5G networks at the EuCNC2018 and the development of satellite-terrestrial integration for 5G networks as part of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s ARTES project, SATis5.

SES will provide various satellite-enabled capabilities to allow demonstration of 5G use cases, including a rapid response solution that provides satellite backhaul for terrestrial communications within emergency response and public safety scenarios. SES will also provide access to a testbed facility used for other 5G projects. In addition, in collaboration with the mobile industry partners, SES will continue to contribute to standardisation efforts aimed at supporting seamless satellite integration into the 5G ecosystem.

The 5G-VINNI project will leverage the latest 5G technologies, including the output from 5G-PPP initiatives such as the SaT5G project, in which SES is a key partner.