Post Luxembourg will be responsible for 5G coverage along the section linking Metz, Merzig and the grand duchy Shutterstock

Post Luxembourg will be responsible for 5G coverage along the section linking Metz, Merzig and the grand duchy Shutterstock

In a press release published on Thursday, the Luxembourg government announced the telecommunications provider would be responsible for coverage along the sections linking Metz, Merzig and the grand duchy.

The collaboration forms part of €17 million European research project 5G Cross-Border Control (5GCroCo), an experimental site to test the needs of autonomous and connected driving in Luxembourg, Germany and France.

Several major European players in the automotive and mobile communications sector are involved in the project, which focuses on remote driving, real-time generation and distribution of high definition maps and early collision avoidance. The first tests are scheduled for 2019.

Key infrastructure for digital society

The government said: “Ultra-reactive 5G telecommunications networks will be a key infrastructure of the digital society in the coming years, in particular to develop the autonomous and connected driving advocated both in the strategic study of the third industrial revolution known as Rifkin and in the government's strategy for the introduction of 5G in Luxembourg.”

In addition to Post Luxembourg, other Luxembourg players are participating in pan-European pilot projects include the Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology (List) and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT).

List will be responsible for overall quality management of the 5G-MOBIX project (5G for cooperative & connected automated MOBIility on X-border corridors) and will also work on network and road simulation aspects, in particular by studying the impact of road topology on network connectivity in order to formulate recommendations on antenna deployment and positioning strategies. List also participates in the assessment of the economic and social impacts of the technologies and economic models tested in the cross-border corridors.

The SnT is responsible for promoting research on cooperative, connected and automated mobility and its results in order to increase the project's impact in the EU, China, Korea and beyond, as part of the 5G-MOBIX project. It also participates in standardisation activities by making recommendations and participating in discussions and is involved in assessing the commercial and societal impact of the project results.