Coastal buoys to be floated off Lulworth for 5G trial

The 5G bouys will monitor the sea state, wave height and water temperature off the Dorset coast

Constant monitoring of sea conditions using 5G technology is set to be trialled off the Dorset coast.

The system will use buoys to measure the sea state, it will then transfer the data to electronic signs and the information can also be accessed by emergency services.

The buoys are to be deployed off the coast of the Lulworth Estate in March.

The connected digital signs will be installed at busy locations on the Jurassic Coast.

Dorset Council said the scheme could "improve coastal public safety".

JET Engineering System Solutions said its buoys would be placed in the sea up to 300m (980ft) off the UNESCO world heritage coastline.

Data measured will include tidal current, temperature and wave height information.

It said 5G had the bandwidth necessary for so-called Maritime Connected Technologies (MCT) - allowing potentially large amounts of data to be transferred from off shore.

5G is the next generation of mobile internet connection and offers much faster data download and upload speeds.

The buoys are set to be deployed in the sea off Lulworth in March

The data will also be available, via a published feed, to the general public, and accessible by the emergency services to support their operations.

The area has seen a number of fatalities with swimmers getting into difficulty off the coast.

Chief executive James Thomas said the Lulworth scheme would investigate the "safety and environmental capabilities" of the technology.

"The trials will not only significantly prove our hardware capability but will assist in the fight to save lives," he said.

Paul Smith, RNLI's head of digital and technology futures, said it welcomed technology which would "help educate water users and ultimately save lives".

"The charity has input into the initiative and look forward to exploring and learning from those involved in how 5G will help in enabling real time safety messages to be displayed on digital information boards," he said.

The project is part of a £7m government-funded project for digital services in coastal areas.

Digital infrastructure minister Matt Warman said: "5G-powered buoys could play a critical role in keeping people safe at sea and are yet another example of how government-backed trials led by the country's most talented innovators are carving out novel solutions to age-old problems."