Amsterdam Arena to play key role in 5G mobile network development

The Amsterdam ArenA wants to play a key roll in the development of the 5G network by launching the super fast mobile network during the European Football Championships in 2020, along with other host cities. Ger Baron, Amsterdam's 'chief technology officer' will make this proposal at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday afternoon, Financieele Dagblad reports.

Amsterdam is one of 13 European cities which will host football matches in the Euro2020. Amsterdam wants to use the new 5G network to transmit high quality video images during the European Football Championships. The initiators believe it can also be used in projects on public transport and public order. "Euro2020 offers an excellent opportunity for a pan-European test with 5G", according to the initiators. 

Exactly what launching the 5G mobile network during Euro2020 will cost, is impossible to estimate at this stage, according to Jan Wester of research institute TNO. The institute is working with the Amsterdam ArenA on this initiative. According to Wester, the Euro2020 project will consist of numerous projects with varying participants. The initiators hope that, in addition to the telecom industry, the European Commission will also contribute to this project through innovation fund Horizon2020.

The new 5G mobile network is expected to be the new internet revolution, according to FD. The 5G network can make the Internet of Things possible, with everything being wirelessly connected to the internet. It will also be valuable for driverless transport, which is impossible without an immense amount of data transmission. All fronts are working on this technology, according to the newspaper. Telecom organization GSMA said on Monday that by the year 2025 there should be about 1.1 billion 5G connections in the world.