Latvian telecoms company LMT has signed a deal with port services provider RIGAS BRIVOSTAS FLOTE (RBF) to develop and deploy new 5G systems for ships and ports.
The first demonstrations on using the 5G network in ship-to-port and ship-to-ship communication in the Gulf of Riga will be held in 2023.
“Bringing 5G to the sea is the key to moving towards a connected maritime mobility ecosystem. However, this innovation area lacks action on a global scale due to the infrastructural complexity, which is why this memorandum is not only of local but also of global importance,” said Arturs Lindenbergs, Mobility Innovation Lead at LMT.
“At LMT, we’ve been widely testing and implementing 5G innovations in smart mobility, public safety and defence, UAVs, and more. Thus, we have vast expertise in using 5G for mobility, and we’re eager to begin developing smart maritime innovations as well.”
The new systems will be tested in areas like the management of the movement of heavy machinery, collection and sharing of information on vessel locations for port operations, and data exchange between ships and shore.
“This memorandum is a unique opportunity for us to develop and implement digital innovations and significantly improve the competitiveness and efficiency of Latvian ports. With this collaboration on R&D between LMT and RBF, we aim to enable the use of 5G capabilities in the port and the Gulf of Riga and, with time, elsewhere in the Baltic Sea,” said Kaspars Ozolins, Chief Executive Officer at RBF.
