5G trial paves way for Baltic Sea coverage

Providing 5G coverage over large areas of open water is challenging, and the success rate of ongoing testing and trials within the industry remains relatively low.

Now mobile innovator LMT and technical port services provider LVR Fleet have forged ahead with a successful trial on the Daugava River, demonstrating uninterrupted 5G shore-to-ship and ship-to-ship connectivity.

“In the near future, maritime 5G networks will allow various innovations, such as autonomous ships or UAV drones for remote control,” said Arturs Lindenbergs, mobility innovation lead at LMT.

“Even though 5G connectivity has already begun to enable the maritime digitalisation ecosystem, it still requires a lot of testing. The Baltic Sea and its region is a suitable space for such trials, and we are eager to embrace this innovation potential.”

The 5G technology maritime concept makes use of the multi-hop principle whereby the 5G network signal is passed on from one ship to the next, enabling shore-to-ship and ship-to-ship communication in the sea.

This concept foresees a 5G network and 5G base station deployed on the ship. Combined with short-range networks from land stations and 5G non-terrestrial networks to cover international waters, it could enable many new 5G use cases.

The trial was part of a collaboration between LMT and the LVR Fleet, signed in June 2022. The initial concept of the trial was developed as a part of the 5G-ROUTES project – an international initiative to develop commercially exploitable connected and automated mobility use cases.

LMT and LVR Fleet are now planning a wide-scale trial of the concept in the Baltic Sea in November 2023.