THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY, PROTAGONISTS AT THE START OF THE ‘5G FORUM 23’ IN SEVILLE

• Antonio Fernández Paniagua, Deputy Director General for Radio Spectrum Planning and Management of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, presented ‘The Map of 5G in Spain in 2023’: “The evolution of 5G mobile access networks has experienced a considerable upturn in the country”- Antonio Sanz, Councilor of the Presidency of the Andalusian Regional Government, detailed the digital growth experienced by the community: “We have the challenge of ensuring that 5G technology reaches all corners of Andalusia, and that it is inclusive and that it is used in all areas of the country.

• Antonio Sanz, Minister of the Presidency of the Regional Government of Andalusia, detailed the digital growth that the community is experiencing: “We have the challenge of ensuring that 5G technology reaches every corner of Andalusia, is inclusive and transversal”.

• Francisco Javier Páez, Deputy Mayor and Delegate of economy, trade and tourism of the City Council of Seville, welcomed the ‘5G Forum 23’ to Seville: “Seville has once again become a showcase of international relevance by bringing together the main leaders of 5G technology”.

The ‘5G Forum 23′ is already underway. This first inaugural day, at the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de Sevilla (FIBES), was opened by Antonio Fernández Paniagua, Deputy Director General of Planning and Management of the Radio Spectrum of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation; Antonio Sanz, Minister of Presidency of the Andalusian Regional Government; and Francisco Javier Páez, Deputy Mayor and Delegate for Economy, Trade and Tourism of the City of Seville.

This first session was also notable for the participation of the sector’s leading experts, with presentations from leading companies such as Orange and Telefónica, who presented their main innovations and roadmap for 5G.

The 5G Map of Spain and a very digital Andalusia

The day began with a highlight, with the presentation ‘The Map of 5G in Spain in 2023’ by Antonio Fernández Paniagua, Deputy Director General of Planning and Management of the Radio Spectrum of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, in which he has x-rayed the situation of 5G in Spain and future plans. “With the work of the operators and the programs promoted by the Ministry, 5G is going to develop in Spain in a very efficient way. 5G is a great opportunity for companies and for the development of new applications and productivity.”

“Spain is one of the few European countries that we have allocated all three frequency bands. As of today, 82.36% of 5G coverage has been reached in the country,” said Paniagua, who highlighted the need to reach all rural areas and also explained the state aid to boost 5G.

For his part, Antonio Sanz, Minister of the Presidency of the Regional Government of Andalusia, outlined the new digital scenario in Andalusia: “Our priority is the transformation towards a model in which the digitization of services is an everyday occurrence, so that 5G technology reaches every corner of Andalusia”.

“We are committed to an investment of 1000 million to streamline administrative procedures for the digital revolution. A simplification to reduce costs and help the development of these infrastructures in the shortest possible time”, he commented.

Also, Francisco Javier Páez, Deputy Mayor and Delegate of economy, trade and tourism of the City Council of Seville, has welcomed the 5G Forum to Seville highlighting that “Seville again becomes a showcase of international relevance by bringing together the main leaders of 5G technology, with more than 25 companies sharing their technological innovations, with the 5G map of Spain and the arrival of 6G”.

Smart cars, robot pets and Metaverse in the ‘demo area’.

All the personalities present and participants in the ‘5G Forum 23’ have been able to fully enjoy an exceptional Demo Area with smart cars from the American company Tesla, Metaverse experiences and 5G robots. An area in which SpainClick, hand in hand with Telefónica, offers, until Tuesday, May 9, an immersive experience to connect the real world with the virtual world in situ. Orange allows visitors, in the Metaverse world, to enter a store with their own avatar and make purchases or play tennis in real time with VR glasses.

With the Finnish company Nokia and its proposal ‘Volcano’, users can walk on a dangerous tiled path over an erupting volcano. In addition, attendees have been able to meet Perkins, a pet-robot and have been able to play pinball thanks to Distributed Reality. Likewise, the Spanish company Minsait surprised with a robotic arm, in addition to the presentation of the R&S®CMX500 platform by the German company Rohde & Schwarz and the 5G demonstrations by the American company Viavi Solutions.

The major operators, Orange and Telefónica, unveil their 5G proposals

The French company Orange, through Javier Olveira, Director of Pre-Sales Engineering B2b of Orange Companies, started the multinationals’ turn with ‘Orange’s 5G private networks’. “5G has enabled radical improvements in data transmission with enormous speed and minimal latency, allowing millions of devices to be handled at the same time,” explained Olveira, who emphasized Orange’s influence on the growth of 5G.

“Orange was the first operator to launch Stand Alone and to inaugurate the 5G era in Spain,” said Olveira.

Telefónica has exposed to those present the future of 5G technology by answering the question “What awaits us in the coming years?”. This question has been answered by Leonor Ostos, Innovation Manager, and José Antonio González Florido, Head of Digital Business for the Southern Territory. “We have made a large deployment to bring 5G to all parts of Spain. 100 % of municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and almost 100 % of more than 20,000 have coverage“, Ostos pointed out.

“The future is a lot of 26 GHZ band. Network Slicing is a service to democratize this technology,” said Ostos.  And, as for the present, Florido has highlighted that the 5G of this operator “helps to improve people’s lives, for example, in the field of education, with immersive experience in classrooms and 5G operating rooms“.

In addition, as a novelty, Medina Media Events has announced through its General Manager, María Medina, ‘The Observatory’. This is the new platform that promises to be the ‘Netflix’ of new technologies and will offer the possibility of networking and access to specialized content. Ricardo Medina, CEO of Medina Medina Events, explained that the 5G Forum is “the moment to reflect and select the best projects and the best ideas that arise in the sector”, highlighting that this event has “a woman’s aroma” due to the female presence.

New afternoon session with top-level presentations

The second session on Monday will feature presentations by Jaume Sanpera, CEO and Co-Founder of Sateliot, under the name ‘Sateliot: Space Connecting 5G IoT’; Daniel García Manteiga, Director of Products and Business Development for Telco and Media’ and Francisco Donato, Director of Infrastructure Operation (Phygital), with the presentation ‘Minsait and 5g – Industrial Use Cases: Data and AI as Drivers for this Technology’; Noelia López, Sustainability & AI Marketing Driver at Ericsson, with ‘The Shift towards more sustainable networks’; Pablo Álvarez, Managing Director of Netmetrix, with ‘NetMetrix and the importance of testing in 5G’.

In addition, Antonio Jiménez, Director of Tourism, Federico Rollán, Director of Agencia Urbana, and José Ayub, Co-Founder & CEO of Galgus, will give the presentation ‘The union of technologies for the management of tourist flows’, panel of the City Council of Seville.

The 5G Forum, “Where 5G leaders meet”, is promoted by Sevilla City Office and FIBES, and is supported by Junta de Andalucía and Agencia Digital de Andalucía, as well as Orange, Telefónica, Viavi Solutions, Ericsson, Capgemini, Rohde & Schwarz, Minsait, Netmetrix, OFG, ZTE, Huawei, Vantage Towers, Vodafone, Nokia, Gsertel, Hispasat, Axión and Impulsa Visión RTVE, among others.