Openvia Mobility, the technological and innovation platform of the Globalvia Group, fosters the development of NeoRoads, with a new alliance with NTT DATA, a global digital business and IT services leader, with the deployment of 5G network for roads in the United States.
NeoRoads is our program to digitalize conventional roads and turn them into smart and connected corridors with the aim of serving the digital user of today and tomorrow. Openvia Mobility is proposing NeoRoads as an open and collaborative ecosystem. Thus, within this context, the collaboration with NTT DATA aims to deploy the 5G mobile network infrastructure in the USA.
The idea behind this implementation is to elevate 5G as the base of connectivity between road infrastructures and the rest of the “connectable” elements within that environment. Therefore, it would serve as an enabler to apply new technologies, providing highways with much higher capacities than they have now.
To implement this proof of concept, both organizations have developed a plan for the deployment of 5G infrastructure and associated functionalities that allow connectivity, driven by Cloud and Edge Computing technology and, thus, measure the performance of the use cases that will simulate future mobility services.
Both companies are driving the benefits of this technology to the roads, using the Pocahontas Parkway in the city of Richmond, Virginia, as their first test scenario.
NTT DATA joins this initiative by providing knowledge and experience in the field of mobile communications, specifically 5G, and digital technologies, taking the project to a higher level thanks to applications with cutting-edge capabilities. This collaboration will allow it to redouble its commitment to the roads of the future, while strengthening the company’s commitment to new international markets.
As first use cases, Openvia Mobility, for its part, is integrating this communications network with its data fusion algorithm and artificial intelligence to carry out the automatic detection of traffic events in real time, extending, again, this information to highway users through the 5G mobile network.
Smartphone already registered in the temporary network deployed on Pocahontas Parkway
In the next phases, the network deployed by NTT DATA will be integrated with the mobile network of a telecommunications operator, allowing users to maintain coverage and simultaneously access the added services that the 5G network offers to the highway. The relationship with this operator to interconnect both networks has been led by the consultancy.
In this case, the 5G connectivity infrastructure includes a network architecture known as Neutral Host, using the CBRS public radio frequency spectrum, suitable for 5G network deployment. This makes it possible to offer the same infrastructure to different telecommunications operators and makes it possible for all users, when they are within the Openvia Mobility coverage area, to maintain their connectivity throughout the journey and to be able to enjoy the services created on top of this network with 5G capabilities. The use of this band, CBRS, in specific cases for roads, makes NeoRoads a pioneering initiative within the US market promoting 5G connectivity, in any of its bands, as a constituent block in the highways of the future.
In addition to the deployment of the 5G network, NTT DATA has been key in supporting Openvia Mobility in the documentation and validation of the project with the public agencies and road authorities of Virginia. In the same way, the company has played an active role in the selection of collaborating companies for the construction of the infrastructure that hosts the network: geotechnical studies, manufacture of poles or foundations and their elevation.
For Kaz Nishihata, Director and Senior Executive Vice President at NTT DATA Group: “We are very excited to see how our capabilities as One NTT DATA advance, being providers of comprehensive solutions in a sector that is in a disruptive process thanks to new technologies. In this process, we have worked with Openvia to build a solid strategy based on 5G, to create added value and improve the quality of services and infrastructure. This is a clear success story of how NTT DATA drives the improvement of operators’ delivery infrastructure, gaining competitive advantages and generating added value in the market”.
On the words of Fernando Vallejo, Chief Innovation, Information & Sustainability Officer at Globalvia and OpenVia Mobility Managing Director: “We are convinced that this deployment, a pioneer in our sector, is one of the definitive levers that will allow us to operate smart and connected roads in a more agile way in which we will offer our users a new, easier, more comfortable and, above all, safer way of travelling. We started in the U.S. market, but our goal is to develop NeoRoads in other parts of the world soon. We will achieve this thanks to collaborations with strategic partners such as NTT DATA”.