Introducing your next generation network, 5… Ski?

Okay, okay, I’ll start by apologizing for the headline. But I’m hoping it might have caught the attention of my fellow tech and/or skiing enthusiasts. Because I have some exciting news for anyone who likes innovation, or spends a lot of their time waiting for the next season to start. (In case you hadn’t guessed, I tick both boxes.) 

I’ll get the necessary disclosure out of the way, so please forgive a short piece of promotion before you read the rest of this post…

Yesterday, my company achieved a pretty cool world-first: along with our technology partners we pushed the button to launch the globe’s first standardized 5G network at the LAAX ski resort in Switzerland. And that’s all I’ll say on the matter – if you want to read more you’ll find all of the information on our newsroom.

Naturally, I’m hugely excited about it. And so I wanted to talk about the transformative effect 5G will potentially have – not just on our skiing holidays, but on the entire tourism industry. Now, you might be wondering, “Why put 5G up a mountain?” and on the surface, it’s a fair question. Remote and inaccessible places aren’t everyone’s first choice.

Or are they? More than a quarter of the Swiss population – some two million people – call the mountain areas home, while they provide more than a fifth of the country’s jobs. And those craggy peaks famously attract visitors in their droves, too: there are more than 67 million skiers in Europe alone, according to Statista. Meanwhile, fiber to the home (FTTH) already covers around 35% of the population in Switzerland – in essence, every major city. So why should these speeds be confined to large urban areas? 

That’s where 5G will start to step in – and help with the things that skiers really find annoying about skiing along the way. For example, losing a ski in deep snow. Or dropping your goggles, hat, gloves or whatever off the chair lift. Argh! The blistering speeds offered by 5G will track these down in no time at all.

A few years ago, everyone was talking about showrooming, where you visit a store to look at something before buying it online. In a similar way, when 5G-compatible smartphones become available, they’ll be able to support proper augmented reality and virtual reality experiences, which will allow budding visitors to have a tour of their chosen resort before booking a trip, or even take some virtual lessons from a hologram of their favorite pro skier.

Then there’s the task of finding your way around a new destination. From augmented signage and automatic translations, to live chair lift queue updates and restaurant recommendations (like the one that – crucially – has a slide going to the WC, instead of yet more stairs), 5G will have the capacity to deal with thousands of people getting lost and found again, simultaneously.

Another traditional bugbear is the endless digging into the pockets of your ski suit to deal with all the daily expenses, from your pass for the slopes, to the chair lift, lunch, several hot chocolates, a schnitzel and maybe a Glühwein or two. Day passes using RFID chips are already making this easier, but in future 5G will also enable a truly seamless blockchain payment experience, letting you deal with everything directly from your phone – even the pre-holiday minefield of paying your part of the shared chalet rental.

But perhaps most importantly, there’s the showing off. What’s the point of carving that perfect turn if there’s nobody around to concede your superior technique? So live stream it using a 360-degree camera and post a celebratory social media update once you’re done.

Other applications will include sensor-enabled snow machines and snow ploughs to create those all important, peak powder conditions, more interactions with robots and chatbots as artificial intelligence starts to make its presence felt, and maybe even some help from driverless vehicles to help cart around your family’s extensive kit (and kids).

Admittedly, there are some skiing gripes that even I can’t pretend 5G will fix… yet. It won’t make getting in and out of your ski boots any easier, or mend your wounded pride when you catch an edge and take an unexpected dive into the snow.

But, notably, it’s quite easy to imagine much of this translating to your Caribbean or Mediterranean idyll instead. Swap chair lift for beach cabana (or sun lounger) availability, and finding friends on the sand instead of the slopes, and you get the idea.

In fact, any place where there are a lot of people wanting to get connected at the same time is going to be a great test ground – no other technology has the capacity to deal with the exponential increase in data volumes, which are currently doubling every 15 months or so. It will be interesting to see which places benefit from 5G next. Anywhere above 2252m I wonder?

Let’s hear it for first tracks!

Photo credit: Ruth Hartnup