How 5G connectivity is transforming British industry

From retail to construction, health to transport, innovations driven by 5G mobile connectivity are reshaping the way Britain lives, shops, and works. Rob Waugh, Britain's leading technology and science journalists, explores this with The Telegraph online.

The retail industry is embracing the potential of connectivity, and in particular 5G, with a mobile payment revolution sweeping Britain. Nine out of 10 UK SMEs already take contactless payments (more than any other country in Europe), and Britain has also embraced mobile ecommerce, with 60 per cent of online retail sales now made from mobile phones, according to recent research. 

Retailers such as Very.co.uk are also rolling out ‘virtual try-on’ capabilities, where customers can try on clothing or make-up in augmented reality before buying. Clarks has staged metaverse concerts with Afrobeat artists such as Fireboy DML, and showed off its shoes at Metaverse Fashion Week 2023, presenting ‘vintage aesthetics and arcade videogame vibes’. 

A windswept construction site in the remote Shetland Islands is showcasing the potential of 5G to change the way things work in construction and manufacturing. Led by civil engineers BAM Nuttall, the 5G-connected construction site is forging a link which will attach Shetland to the British electricity grid for the first time. 5G enables workers at the site to update managers with reports, data, and images, so they can see the progress being made from hundreds of miles away.

The team has also been testing advanced technologies such as construction robotics at the site, using the Boston Dynamics Spot robot via the private 5G network, with a Trimble X7 3D laser scanner mounted on the robot to gather data.

The pandemic sparked the rapid adoption of virtual GP and other primary care consultations, and has sparked a wave of innovation. For the over-burdened NHS, digital apps such as Consultant Connect offer the possibility of cutting unnecessary hospital visits and easing the strain on time-pressed GPs.

The Consultant Connect app is now being used by more than half of the NHS, and in two out of three cases results in the avoidance of unnecessary hospital visits, says Jonathan Patrick, CEO of Consultant Connect. Across the sector, mobile data connectivity is helping to streamline processes and enhance communication, including in emergency response situations, where first responders can now get rapid access to patient information on site.

Across Britain, connectivity is poised to change the way transport and logistics work, with ‘connected’ vehicles enabling a more efficient and sustainable future. 

An ambitious Government project is creating a ‘digital twin’ of the UK’s entire transport network to shape future decarbonisation strategies. This involves using data from sensors and other systems to create a virtual ‘twin’ of a real-world object: digital twins are widely used in industry, for example, to monitor devices such as turbines remotely. 

Researchers hope that information gleaned from the digital twin will enable policy-makers to develop risk-free approaches to deploying environmental solutions. 

The port of Felixstowe, which handles 36% of Britain’s containerised freight, is trialling 5G technology to connect cranes. On six of the giant quay cranes at the busy port, workers use internet of things (IoT) sensors to monitor the health of cranes, plus an AI predictive model which predicts anomalies in performance. This means that preventative maintenance can be carried out on the huge machines. 

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Tony Gibbons, Technical Manager at Clearway, a Three Business customer, highlights the importance of strong connectivity:

"Connectivity is crucial for our business performance and employee efficiency. Poor connectivity is simply not an option for us, which is why we chose Three Business.”

Craig Beaumont, Federation of Small Businesses Chief of External Affairs, underscores the broader implications:

"Poor connectivity can significantly hold back UK small businesses. Reliable digital, mobile, and vocal connectivity is essential for economic growth and productivity.”