KPN urged Dutch regulators to make 3.5GHz spectrum available for 5G testing, as it announced plans to trial the technology throughout 2018 in partnership with vendors Nokia, ZTE and Huawei.

In a statement announcing plans to test 5G for a range of applications in four locations across the country, KPN said it was “essential” 3.5GHz spectrum was made available to be used in test environments.

The company, which last month also called for the policy makers to make the spectrum available, said 3.5GHz was “crucial to successful testing of 5G applications and the introduction of 5G in the Netherlands”.

Rival VodafoneZiggo made similar appeals at the end of 2017. While 3.5GHz has been designated by the EU for 5G, it is currently not included in the Dutch regulator’s plans for a 2019 spectrum auction.

Trials
Despite the lack of clarity around the spectrum, KPN unveiled plans to trial 5G this year. In Amsterdam, the company will test 5G applications through Massive MIMO antennas at the Amsterdam Arena in partnership with Nokia.

Massive MIMO is designed to help increase mobile internet capacity at busy locations. Udo Kock, City of Amsterdam Alderman responsible for innovation (among other areas), said the technology could help the arena develop better crowd management and an improved fan experience.

Teaming with Chinese vendor ZTE, the local government and Wageningen University, KPN will also trial the use of 5G in agriculture in the province of Drenthe. The company said it will use drones connected to the mobile network on a farm to assess use cases for the sector. KPN will also test mmWave technology at the farm, using an experimental permit.

Huawei and KPN will trial network slicing in Rotterdam, with a specific focus on transport and logistics, as well the use of VR for industrial applications in the city.

Finally, the operator said it will test 5G technologies on a motorway between Eindhoven and Tilburg for automotive purposes.