TIM, Ericsson and Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) have launched a 5G demonstration area in the Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport’s Terminal T3.
Passengers passing through the airport can experience virtual reality via a virtual tour guide service. Travellers will be taken on an immersive bilingual tour of Piazza Navona using virtual reality headsets. They will have the opportunity to explore the square and its famous fountains at different times of day and night.
5G will gradually be rolled out across the entire Fiumicino airport, which was recently named Europe’s best airport by ACI Europe.
5G tourism
TIM and Ericsson switched on the first 5G antenna at the airport using frequencies awarded to TIM during Italy’s spectrum auction, which concluded in October last year. TIM invested a total of €2.4 billion at the auction.
5G is expected to drive the use of virtual reality for applications such as tourism, as well as gaming and industrial use cases.
Raimondo Anello, Head of Innovation at TIM Customer Unit within Ericsson, commented, “Making virtual reality available at Fiumicino Airport is a prime example in the consumer sphere of how greater connectivity combined with low latency can open the door to innovative and interactive new services. As for industry, airports could benefit from 5G for automating and digitalising operating processes.’
Emiliano Sorrenti, Information and Communications Technology Director, ADR, added, “These new solutions help us make daily operational decisions and make our passengers’ travel experiences more comfortable, due to the massive impact they [have] on optimising airport services.”