BlueWave has become the first provider to offer a 5G network on the Isle of Man. Read our interview with Prof Adam Beaumont—the network provider’s CEO—to learn more.
1/ Please tell us more about the BlueWave pilot.
Aql—a group of UK companies—includes a mobile operator on the Isle of Man called BlueWave. We have quietly been investing in infrastructure to augment its capabilities over the last five years. This has included lighting high-capacity wavelengths to the island and beyond, facilitating the launch of our 5G network.
It is, however, important to point out that this isn’t just a radio launch. It is supported by the best practices in engineering, which 5G is trying to drive. For example, a few years ago we formed the Isle of Man Internet Exchange, which aims to drive down latency. We were then awarded 100MHz of 5G spectrum on the Isle of Man at the last spectrum auction, which was around two-thirds of a million. This gives us a national spectrum in the N78 band.
Until now, the launch has been delayed because of supply chain challenges as a result of the pandemic. It has taken a while for us to gain access to the kit we need. We have chosen Ericsson as a vendor but are interoperating with another vendor. Diversification is, of course, important to us.
2/ Why is it significant?
We are the first operator in the Isle of Man to go live with 5G! The island has three operators, yet we differ significantly. Our main focus is connecting things, rather than people. We want to connect devices to allow a city to run more efficiently, covering everything from transport, healthcare and energy. Examples of this are as wide-ranging as latency-sensitive requirements such as autonomy (vehicles, robots and drones) to connected autonomy (efficiency and removing environmental impact).
As a result of our connectivity, we will be able to provide unlimited uncapped mobile data. We are not interested in reasonable use. Business users can actually use 5G as their main connection.
3/ What have you learned so far?
Our biggest learning has been the challenges around vendor interoperability. However, we have developed a methodology with vendors to drive interoperability, which essentially gives us a choice and ultimately creates an open, resilient supply chain.
Alongside this, with 5G tech operating at slightly higher frequencies, there is much more importance in optimisation of the antenna; when you have interoperability between systems, there is definitely a greater emphasis on configuration optimisation. Hopefully, soon we will be able to share more learnings.
4/ What are the next steps?
The Isle of Man was the world’s first country to roll out 3G, and we see the island as the ideal testbed. Our mobile network is the connectivity partner for the video footage for the TT and we are hoping that 5G allows us to capture people riding on bikes up to 200 miles an hour—naturally, this will be the ultimate test!
We are also looking to expand our work into marine and maritime, providing connectivity for commercial shipping and passenger ferries to and from the island.
Alongside this, we’re planning to expand our footprint on the island in terms of masts and coverage. Currently, we are at 50% population coverage but we are hoping to increase this to 100%.
We are also very keen to hear from the scientific community, as well as schools and other innovators, to see if they have any particular requirements or connectivity needs. We'd love to lend our support.
5/ What is the one thing you’d like people to know about BlueWave?
It is probably the largest small mobile network and the smallest large mobile network. And it's probably one of the only mobile networks which is still under total private ownership. This allows us to be highly flexible and able to support innovation. It also encourages us to be innovative and most importantly, customer focussed.
