The InterContinental Shenzhen hotel is in the process of getting a 5G makeover, set to make it the world’s first 5G smart hotel.
With the help of Huawei and Shenzhen Telecom, this Chinese hotel will soon have continuous 5G coverage both indoors and outdoors, but that means a whole lot more than just faster internet for guests.
Having 5G on-site will allow the InterContinental Shenzhen to offer whole new services (see video below), such as 5G-powered ‘welcome robots’, 5G cloud games, 5G cloud computing terminals, and 5G cloud virtual reality rowing machines, as well as more ‘ordinary’ improvements, such as the ability to seamlessly stream 4K movies.
The goal of all this is to provide business travellers with a more efficient work environment, leisure travellers with immersive entertainment experiences, and overall to offer the “ultimate innovative luxury experience.”
Dr. Peter Zhou, chief marketing officer of Huawei Wireless Solution, said: “5G is here – from the 4K ultra high-definition live broadcast of CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala early this year to today’s 5G entertainment and business transformation of the InterContinental Shenzhen’s presidential suites, 5G technology has penetrated into different industries. In this cooperation, together with Shenzhen Telecom, we provided a 5G Digital Indoor System and a 5G Cloud X application that adapts to the hotel scenario. It is a demonstration of both parties’ leadership in end-to-end commercial application of 5G equipment."
The first of many
This upgrade, which is the hotel industry’s first end-to-end 5G network with integrated terminals and cloud applications, could according to Huawei “open the door for digital transformation of entire hotel industry through 5G technology” so before long you might not have to go to China to experience to transformative power of 5G in a hotel setting.
There’s no news on when the UK might get its first 5G smart hotel, but with 5G networks set to launch here later in 2019 – with EE’s possibly being switched on as soon as this summer – there might not be a massive wait.
James has been writing for us for over 10 years. Currently, he is Editorial Manager for our group of companies ( 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk) and sub-editor at TechRadar. He specialises in smartphones, mobile networks/ technology, tablets, and wearables.
In the past, James has also written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media, Smart TV Radar, and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV. He has a film studies degree from the University of Kent, Canterbury, and has over a decade’s worth of professional writing experience.
