Newbury receives UK's first 5G holographic call

Vodafone shows off 'exciting possibilities' of new technology

NEWBURY received the UK's first live holographic call using 5G technology yesterday (Thursday).

Vodafone conducted the call from its Manchester office, featuring England and Manchester City women’s football captain Steph Houghton.

Using 5G technology, Ms Houghton appeared as a live 3D hologram on stage in front of an audience at Vodafone’s UK headquarters in Newbury.

Her holographic image gave footballing tips to 11-year-old Manchester City and Lionesses fan, Iris, in Newbury.

Vodafone said that the exchange gave a glimpse of the exciting possibilities of 5G, ranging from remote robotic surgery and 4K gaming on the move.

The call follows the announcement in June this year that seven cities will become Vodafone 5G trial areas from next month.

As reported by NewburyToday, West Berkshire is bidding to become the first rural area in the UK to have a 5G broadband network.

Councillor James Fredrickson (Con, Victoria) said that West Berkshire Council had been engaging with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Local Government Association to explore whether it would be possible to implement 5G coverage in the area.

The move would see West Berkshire become the first rural area to have 5G technology.

5G technology – short for ‘fifth generation mobile networks’ – promises mobile data speeds that far outstrip the fastest home broadband network currently available in the UK.

The service is up to 1,000 times faster than 4G – the latest iteration of mobile data technology.

Vodafone also announced yesterday that Cornwall and the Lake District will receive 5G during 2019, and that the company will have 1,000 5G sites by 2020.

Vodafone UK chief executive Nick Jeffery said: “Vodafone has a history of firsts in UK telecoms – we made the nation’s first mobile phone call, sent the first text and now we’ve conducted the UK’s first holographic call using 5G.

"We also lead the industry in Internet of Things (IoT) technology, with the world’s largest dedicated global IoT network.

“The initiatives we’ve launched today are designed to ensure that everyone can benefit from the digital technologies transforming how we live and work.

"From our customers and employees, to university students, digital entrepreneurs and businesses, we want to help people across the UK get ready for a digital future.”