Bicester and its surrounding areas are set to benefit from a new 5G ‘innovation project’ which aims to enhance rail experiences and farming.

A portion of the £3.8 million government funding sourced by Oxfordshire County Council on behalf of nine other councils will be invested in East West Rail between Bicester and Bletchley.

The project, called England’s Connected Heartland, aims to demonstrate how the UK’s rail industry can explore new connectivity options for both track operations and passenger access to fast, reliable onboard WiFi, through the pilot 5G network.

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The project will also provide trackside communities and businesses with improved connectivity.

The council will now work with Buckinghamshire, all Berkshire’s unitary authorities, Central Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire on the new 5G initiative.

Calum Miller, county councillor for Otmoor and prospective parliamentary candidate for Bicester and Woodstock, said: “I’m delighted Oxfordshire County Council has helped secure investment in our area’s digital infrastructure.

“We have many successful and start-up businesses in our area that will benefit from being among the first to access 5G.

“And I am sure many train travellers will be excited by the innovation of experiencing a fast, reliable on-board signal.”

Householders in the town are also pleased about the upcoming project, claiming it will enhance the already-operating technology companies.

Simon Loo, 52, who moved to Bicester’s self and custom build housing development Graven Hill in 2016, said: “There’s a lot of mechanical motor engineering expertise in this area.

"We have Arrival, the electric delivery van company, and Evalito who specialise in electric aviation vehicles.

“This 5G project is exciting because it will help these tech companies to become smarter and smarter.

“It will allow Bicester and the surrounding areas to become good environments for innovation to take place. I’m very pleased for the area and the potential this project has.”

The project will also explore how 5G can be used to improve farm productivity along the route between Bicester and Bletchley.

5G is faster than previous generations of wireless technology, and also offers greater capacity, allowing thousands of devices in a small area to be connected at the same time.

The latest wireless technology is already being used and tested across a number of sectors, benefitting people and businesses.

One local council has installed 5G nodes on lampposts to create a network aimed at helping social care patients.

The project has helped to keep patients and their families connected via virtual reality, as well as enabling biomonitors to detect whether patients are dehydrated.

5G is also being used to create autonomous farming machinery, where machines scour the field using a video sensor, and apply fertilisers and pesticides where they’re needed.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1