Swansea University has tapped the enterprise arm of operator VodafoneThree, Vodafone Business, to introduce faster 5G+ coverage.
The roll-out builds on the ongoing partnership between Swansea University, the Swansea Bay City Deal and Vodafone Business, and forms part of VodafoneThree’s continued investment in the Swansea area.
The enhanced connectivity – 5G+ (5G Standalone, 5G SA) and reliable 4G – across the university’s campuses is designed to deliver benefits including faster data speeds and more reliable, higher-quality voice calls for students, staff and visitors.
From a technological basis, the university is making use of Vodafone 5G+ as part of an ongoing partnership between the university, Vodafone Business and the Swansea Bay City Deal.
Programmes and projects in the Swansea Bay City Deal are based on key themes such as economic acceleration, life science and well-being, energy, smart manufacturing and digital. The project is intended to boost the regional economy of its catchment area by at least £1.8bn, while generating more than 9,000 jobs over its 15-year lifespan.
Vodafone says that through the network upgrades – including improved 4G across both Singleton and Bay campuses – those working, studying or visiting the university are now enjoying faster data speeds, as well as more reliable and better-quality voice calls. The roll-out of Vodafone’s 5G+ is also part of the university’s “living lab” and its research on health, fitness and well-being devices and sensors.
The enhanced connectivity also extends to nearby Singleton Hospital and Morriston Hospital, with patients, staff and visitors said to be seeing faster mobile data speeds, improving day‑to‑day working and visiting experiences across the hospital estate.
The operator says clinicians can begin exploring how this improved connectivity supports digitally enabled care models such as remote patient monitoring and community‑based care.
The result is said to be that it is now possible for more patients to receive care at home by supporting patient self‑management tools, in turn, helping to reduce trips to hospital and any associated potential patient stress and anxiety. Vodafone noted that it also frees up clinical time and makes more effective use of NHS resources.
On a wider perspective, VodafoneThree said it was continuing to invest across the wider Swansea area, with its 5G+ now available to more than 75% of the city’s population.
Commenting on the deployment, Keith Lloyd, director of the National Institute for Sport and Health, said: “The enhanced 5G connectivity across Swansea University’s campuses opens exciting opportunities, especially for our health, well-being and sport research. Faster, more reliable mobile networks mean we can collect and analyse data in real time, enabling more effective innovation.
“As well as benefitting research, this upgrade has the potential to improve patient care, supporting remote monitoring and digital health services.”
VodafoneThree business sales director Shali Thilakan added: “Vodafone 5G+delivers endless connectivity benefits, offering businesses a powerful network which can be built around their needs. Swansea University is now in a great position to start taking full advantage of this, and we look forward to seeing how it will continue to support the campuses and our customers working, studying or visiting there.”
