Tech postcard

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1 Stagecoach Bus operator Stagecoach has started road-testing the first full-sized driverless buses to run in the UK. The two-week trial took place earlier this year, using buses designed by Fusion Processing, Alexander Dennis and Transport Scotland. The test route – which was 14 miles long – ran between Edinburgh and Fife in Scotland.

Speaking of the trial, Sam Greer, regional director of Stagecoach in Scotland, said it was a “hugely exciting project” and a major step towards launching a full-sized autonomous bus service.

Jim Hutchinson, chief executive of Fusion Processing, said: “On-road testing is an exciting milestone in the development of autonomous commercial vehicles, and we look forward to welcoming passengers onboard in a few months’ time.”

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2 BAI Communications Communications infrastructure provider BAI Communications has announced the appointment of former Vodafone chief technology offi cer Steve Pusey as chair of its board.

According to a statement, Pusey brings more than three decades of experience in telecommunications to the role, including nine years as CTO at Vodafone, EMEA president at Nortel Networks, and five years at British Telecom. Pusey began his new role at the end of March, taking over from nonexecutive director Bart Vogel, who had been serving as interim chair of the company since January.

3 Frequentis Isle of Wight Ambulance Service has deployed Frequentis’s LifeX control room platform.

Frequentis describes LifeX as: “A state-of-the-art control room solution used by ambulance dispatchers to communicate with ambulance crews. The system enables the dispatch team to contact crews in enhanced ways, using voice and data, [thereby] providing greater resilience.”

Discussing the roll-out, a spokesperson for the service said: “LifeX has led to a streamlined communication process, allowing our dispatchers to operate more effectively, and allowing our crews to respond to those using 999 and NHS 111 services more effi ciently.”

4 Scotland 5G Centre The Scotland 5G Centre is providing access to a private 5G testbed as part of a new initiative it claims will use “advanced connectivity to transform and improve healthcare delivery”.

According to a statement, the Shaping Digital Health & Social Care Innovation Challenge will encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to develop 5G-enabled solutions to meet “patient and care provider needs”. Areas of interest for the project include rural healthcare, personal homecare and safe patient data sharing.

Head of S5GConnect, Lara Moloney, said: “Private 5G networks offer organisations a new way to deliver services.”

5 Freshwave Network service provider Freshwave has announced the launch of two 4G private networks at a pair of leisure parks in Scotland. The parks in question are Erigmore, near the Tay Forest Park, and Thurston Manor, situated on the coast just north of Glasgow.

Telecoms reseller Online Systems supported Freshwave with the design and build of the networks, using outdoor small-cell technology.

Simon Frumkin, Freshwave CEO, said: “Staying connected is more important than ever before, and people holidaying outside city centres need to keep in touch too. We’re proud to pioneer the use of shared mobile spectrum to deploy private networks.”

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June 2022 | www.landmobile.co.uk | Twitter:@Land_Mobile