TIM has switched on 5G in Rimini to coincide with the 40th Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, being held at the Fiera di Rimini from 18 to 24 August. TIM is a main partner of the event and will be illustrating the potential of 5G through several examples of digital applications and innovative services that will contribute to Italy's technological development.
The company will be stationed in the Central Hall of Rimini Fiera throughout the event, with an area dedicated to new technology where visitors will have the chance to test some of the main existing applications of 5G.
They will be able to make immersive virtual-reality visits to museums and historical locations (such as Rome's Piazza Navona) using special visors, with the ability to interact with a real tourist guide who is remotely connected to the same virtual environment. Also on show is TIM’s Smart City Control Room – the nerve centre of the smart city of the future – with live data dashboards based on sensors connected to TIM’s mobile network, which can be used for smart management of traffic, parking, lighting and waste collection, and data taken from sensors on public transport systems to monitor the environment and check air quality (the "Bus as a Sensor" scheme). Visitors will be able to try the "smart bench", which is one of the items connected to the Smart City Control Room and fitted with Wi-Fi connections, USB ports for charging phones and a seat incorporating multimedia elements.
Part of the area will show off 5G applications for digital entertainment, where visitors can try the entire TIMGAMES catalogue (including MotoGP™19, Ride, and Grid) using the new 5G smartphones as games consoles, or listening to music playlists at the TIMMUSIC station. There will also be a chance to try immersive 360º video streaming, with images from this year's Giro d’Italia and the San Marino Rally Legend 2018.
One section will be set aside for some of the most interesting digital startups that were part of the Open Innovation TIM WCAP accelerator programme and have now become successful businesses in various sectors.
These will include To Be, which has developed solutions for transmitting data using LED lights based on Li–Fi (Light Fidelity), an innovative technology that TIM and To Be have successfully tested at the Parco Archeologico di Pompei, thanks to an agreement under the Smart@POMPEI project between Italy's Culture Ministry and National Research Council. To Be has also deployed Li-Fi technology in the education sector through To Be Kids, which makes a special, smart lightbulb that transmits safe and pre-approved content for kids to devices (such as games, educational books and cartoons).
Also on show in the education sphere will be the solutions developed by Kaitiaki, including an online service that analyses young people's social profiles, detects threats and sends real-time alerts to parents, while also ensuring children's privacy. Mash&Co, meanwhile, is an app for preschool children based on the adventures of Mash and Periwinkle and Marshmellow Games, the app for school-age children that presents learning materials in a fun, innovative way. Then there is Art Stories, an app that helps children – and adults! – to discover art, history and architecture.
In the cultural heritage sector, TIM's stand will present the solutions developed by Smart Factory, a startup specialising in developing apps in the digital humanities space. Lastly, in the environment sector there will be TreeVoice, with a device that uses the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor the stability of trees. An AI algorithm analyses the elasticity of the wood, the verticality of the trunk and the tree's resistance to wind; if it moves in any concerning way then the device sends an alarm, making it possible to prevent fallen trees.
TIM has already activated 5G in Rome, Turin and Naples and within the year will make it available in another six cities – Milan, Bologna, Verona, Florence, Matera and Bari – 30 tourist destinations, 50 industrial districts and 30 specific projects for big businesses, with speeds of up to 2 gigabits a second. By 2021 there will be coverage for 120 towns and cities, 200 tourist destinations, 245 industrial districts and 200 specific projects for big businesses, with speeds increasing progressively up to 10 Gbps.
5G brings previously unthinkable technological transformation, with performance ten times higher than current levels: greater download speed (at least 10 times higher than 4G), lower latency (10 times lower than 4G), a higher number of devices handled (up to 10 times the amount) and significant use of the Internet of Things, connecting up to 1 million devices and sensors per km2 simultaneously with extremely high quality and reliability. TIM 5G is more than an evolution in tech standards: it’s a genuine revolution that will pave the way for a new generation of services required for the digital development of Italy. These will enhance everyday quality of life for customers, the public and companies in various sectors.
After the summer, TIM will launch specific training and digital literacy initiatives for the public and businesses to accompany the profound digital transformation that 5G will bring, helping people to understand the day-to-day opportunities that the new technology and the web will open up. The courses will be free of charge, available online and in various TIM Academy locations around the country.
Rimini, 18 August 2019
