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Orange Belgium's 5G SA Network Powers Helicus' Drones for Shipping Medical Supplies

Orange Belgium's 5G SA Network Powers Helicus' Drones for Shipping Medical Supplies Image Credit: Orange Belgium

Orange Belgium recently announced that it has partnered with HAI-SCS on the transportation of medical supplies using Helicus' drones over its 5G network.

The “HAI-SCS” project stands for “Helicus Aero Initiative - Scheduling, Connectivity and Security”. As the name suggests the HAI ecosystem of domain-leading organisations targets three gaps to enable automated drone services;

 - Artificial Intelligence will drive drone fleet Scheduling,

 - 5G/4G/radio cascaded Connectivity slices will link all actors

 - in an integrated cyber Secure manner

 

Orange Belgium’s 5G network is used to ensure that Helicus’ drones are supported by an extremely reliable connection with the ground control, when shipping medical supplies or human samples.

Drones can normally rely on low-bandwidth connections for their operation. However, in case of danger, and especially when carrying a critical payload, an alarm is raised and an immediate video connection with the drone needs to be established. This requires a high-bandwidth connection to transfer the video images to the ground control and/or the hospital, in order to receive and process the payload.

Thanks to Orange Belgium’s unique 5G standalone network, the drones can rely on an extremely high throughput and low latency, with a guaranteed level of quality based upon network slicing.

Werner De Laet, Chief Enterprise, Innovation and Wholesale Officer of Orange Belgium
We’re delighted to support the Helicus initiative, which demonstrates the real added value of 5G for socially-relevant purposes. It clearly shows how important a reliable network, with guaranteed quality of service and network slicing, can be instrumental in saving human lives.

Mikael Shamim, CEO Helicus and HAI-SCS project coordinator
We are jointly building the foundation for automated drone operations that will enable urgent medical deliveries of blood, human tissue and clinical samples, and thus save lives.

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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