UK: FirstGroup has announced that its Rail Division will be the exclusive supplier of Blu Wireless’s  5G communications for ontrain connectivity. This follows a 2½  year development programme undertaken with Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the Department for Culture Media & Sport.

Roll-out is to begin at South Western Railway, and is expected to deliver more than 1 Gbps to a moving train consistently.

The trackside radio units would be ‘exceptionally small’, enabling simple deployment on short trackside poles or existing infrastructure such as gantries and platform lighting poles.

‘This partnership will revolutionise commuter connectivity in an innovative and economical way’, said Mark Barrett of Blu Wireless. ‘The system is based on Blu Wireless’s unique mmWave communication technology which does not require the hugely complex and expensive infrastructure of cellular systems. We believe that the combination of gigabit grade data rate with cost-effective and low power operation will be instrumental in delivering FirstGroup’s customers with best in class on train Wi-Fi services.’