Travelling in the UK, on either the railways or the roads, can be a frustrating experience. 5G SA, however, can help make it more productive and enjoyable, explains Andrea Donà, Chief Network Officer & Network Director at Vodafone UK.
Following the pandemic, Vodafone was one of many companies that introduced much greater flexibility to its employee’s working practices. We still stand by that, having seen how beneficial it is for the diverse workforce of remote, hybrid and roaming employees that make up The Nation’s Network.
Despite the obvious differences in these roles, all of our staff rely on transport in one form or another, whether that’s jumping into the car to pick up the kids, boarding a train as part of the office commute or visiting far-flung sites in a company vehicle.
In fact, in my own somewhat hybrid role as Chief Network Officer and parent, I’ve done all three of these on a fairly regular basis. Which just goes to show that all of us need transport to make day-to-day life work. But is this same transport system working for us?
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New modelling for Vodafone UK by WPI Strategy suggests the answer to this question is ‘not as well as it should be.’
Commuters experience 28.2 million train journeys every year where poor connectivity prevents them from working. In turn, 73% of travellers surveyed are frustrated that the UK can’t replicate the cheaper, more reliable services that they often see in other countries.
As a result of the estimated 140 minutes lost each month due to service disruptions, 51% of travellers avoid trains altogether. But road traffic suffers as a result, leading to more emissions and a worsening environmental situation.
The latest technology can help, though, as our report ‘Standalone 5G and the UK’s Road and Rail Network’ suggests.
"5G SA could improve connectivity for rail passengers, reduce drivers' fuel spending, cut transport-related emissions and improve the movement of goods."
By investing in comprehensive 5G Standalone (5G SA) coverage, the UK could not only improve connectivity for rail passengers, but reduce drivers’ fuel spending, cut transport-related emissions and improve the movement of goods.
In other words, 5G SA could help us deliver on the UK Government’s Get Britain Moving Strategy, which set out the aim of having ‘better mobile connectivity, including moving towards 5G’ as well as the Department for Transport’s broader priorities to improve railway performance, transform infrastructure, and deliver greener transport.
The opportunity 5G SA poses, therefore, is huge. What’s more, it seems like an obvious choice when you consider the figures involved. For example, greater rail connectivity could add a potential £1 billion to the UK economy each year, while saving an estimated 26 million hours of avoidable delays.
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The individual impact of 5G
While these are impressive figures, the sheer size of them can make their impact difficult to visualise. To make this more relatable, it’s worth considering how 5G SA infrastructure investment – such as the £11 billion promised by Vodafone UK and Three UK as part of our proposed merger – could affect everyday life for individuals across the nation, such as one of Vodafone’s own, excellent network engineers.
For argument’s sake, let’s call her Sarah. Now, Sarah is a people person, so likes to be in the office a couple days a week to meet with her team. This means taking the train fairly regularly, which gives her a great chance to get a jump on her morning emails – when the network allows her too, that is.
Fortunately, a more robust 5G SA infrastructure brings greater network capacity with it, allowing more devices to be connected at the same time without causing congestion. As a result, Sarah can respond to any important messages before using the last 10 minutes of her journey to catch up on her favourite show.
"When shared over a 5G SA network, with its high reliability and low latency, drivers like Sarah could use this information to avoid frustrating traffic jams or potential incidents."
When she’s not in the office, you’ll often find Sarah on the motorway – or a small country lane – depending on which Vodafone network site she’s visiting that day. Therefore, anything that can help alleviate traffic and improve road safety is welcomed with open arms.
Today, cars use technologies like GPS for navigation, but that’s just a taste of what connectivity can offer our vehicles. With Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) communication, these same cars could exchange information with other vehicles and the surrounding infrastructure about lane closures, speed restrictions and traffic incidents – all in real time.
When shared over a 5G SA network, with its high reliability and low latency, drivers like Sarah could use this information to avoid frustrating traffic jams or potential incidents.
What’s more, less time spent in traffic means a huge 1.82 million tonnes of CO2 emissions could be avoided annually. That’s the equivalent of taking 1.5 million cars off the road each year. Which is music to the ears of Sarah as a keen hiker who loves spending her weekends in the great outdoors.
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Moving in the right direction
Whether you work for Vodafone or elsewhere – from home, the office or both – I’m sure you’ll agree that the transport system is a hugely important part of daily UK life.
This is why our merger with Three UK is so important. It can help us turn a real corner, by delivering the investment that the UK deserves and seeing 5G SA rolled out to 95% of the population by 2030, and 99% by 2034, in the process.
This could help reduce traffic by 25%, train delay times by 10% and – importantly – give each of us more time to do the things we actually want to do.
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