- Virgin Media O2 Business and River Severn Advanced Wireless Innovation Region (RSAWIR) announce a new partnership to showcase the benefits of 5G connectivity in farming.
- A portable 5G Private Network will be installed at Overbury Farms, where trials using cutting edge technology like AI cameras and IoT devices will take place.
- Showcasing a farm of the future, the trials aim to boost farm efficiency, enhance animal welfare and reduce environmental impact.
- This work is part of the UK Government’s initiative to demonstrate 5G technology in rural regions, with RSPAWIR being one of the 10 areas chosen by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) to receive £3.75 million in funding.
27 February 2025, London: Virgin Media O2 Business and River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Region (RSPAWIR) have today announced a new collaboration to trial cutting edge 5G connectivity at Overbury Farms on the border between Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. By installing a portable 5G Private Network on the farm, this trial will showcase innovative use cases, laying the groundwork for the connected farms of the future and demonstrating the transformative power of technology in crop protection and environmental preservation.
Overbury Farms, a 1,600 hectare award-winning estate and the chosen trial site, has long been a leader in digital farming, utilising connected tractors, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled weather stations, and real-time data analytics. The farm will now serve as the ultimate testbed for the portable 5G Private Network, covering a 1-kilometre trial area to unlock advanced applications for farming, driving the future of agriculture.
This project is part of the UK Government’s initiative to demonstrate the potential of 5G technology across the UK. The River Severn Catchment is one of the 10 5G Innovation Regions chosen by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) to receive £3.75 million in funding; this will be used to demonstrate the benefits of wireless technology for agriculture, water management and the public sector, managed by Shropshire Council.
The portable Private Network, which will be installed at Overbury Farms this month, aims to showcase the benefits advanced connectivity can bring to the agricultural sector. Several 5G-enabled solutions will be used aimed at improving farm efficiency and animal welfare, while reducing the impact on the environment. This includes:
- Outdoor and indoor AI-enabled pest observation: Connecting existing cabbage stem flea beetle camera traps and deploying new aphid and ladybird trained camera traps, allowing the farm to take early action and reduce the amount of pesticides used to control potential infestations.
- IoT water quality checks: Sensors will be installed to remotely identify the level of nitrates in the local stream, which combined with Meteoblue’s weather model can help determine fertiliser application timings to gain optimal soil moisture conditions and monitor what others do to the water courses running through the farm
- Water level troughs: Monitoring water levels in the livestock and racehorse troughs, saving time from physical observations and ensuring water is always available for the animals.
- Liquid fertiliser levels: Preventing manual checks for fertiliser tanks, the monitors will trigger alerts for any potential leakages to quickly address the leak and help reduce the environmental impact of any such event, as well as reducing checking time for stock control
- Weather station: Ensuring yield quality by collecting information on soil moisture, wind speed, rain gauge, and temperature. Correlated with weather forecasting and disease modelling to increase accuracy and support the farm in daily decision making.
Committing to share the findings from this innovative trial, Penelope Bossom, Overbury Farms’ owner, commented: “This exciting collaboration will give us the opportunity to test a variety of sensors collecting data over a private 5G network. The benefits of better information, warnings and the collation of data will provide new opportunities to our sector. Hopefully, we will overcome the constraints of variable connectivity to show the benefits of the network technology for a business in the countryside.” Paving the way for further 5G-driven innovation in the agricultural sector, Overbury is a member of AgritechE, an organisation that brings farming experts together to foster new innovations in the Agritech space. They’ve also been an AgriEPI (now the UK Agri-Tech Centre) satellite farm.
Andres Cruz Gordon, Private Networks Director at Virgin Media O2 Business, said: “Building on Virgin Media O2 Business’ expertise in deploying Private Networks, this new project with River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Region is a great opportunity to demonstrate the possibilities that advanced connectivity can unlock. From AI-enabled insect traps to weather stations powered by sophisticated weather models, the applications tapped into at the farm will increase both safety and efficiency on site. This work will serve as an industry showcase of how 5G can accelerate digital farming plans and benefit the UK economy.”
This work underscores Virgin Media O2 Business’ leadership in deploying 5G Private Networks. Last year, the company announced a strategic partnership with Accenture to expand its private 5G network solutions across a range of industries, including agriculture. The UK’s growing mobile Private Network market is estimated to reach £528M by 2030*, with potential to generate further value through industry-focused applications supported by this connectivity.
Matt Smith, RSPAWIR Programme Manager, said: “This project brings together a forward thinking, environmentally conscious and tech-curious local farm, an innovative public sector partnership with government support and a high-profile Mobile Network Operator in Virgin Media O2 Business who have an appetite to transform rural connectivity. Our collaboration marks an exciting step forward in demonstrating the practical benefits of 5G technology for rural communities.”
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About Virgin Media O2 Business
Virgin Media O2 launched on 1 June 2021, combining the UK’s largest and most reliable mobile network with a fully gigabit broadband network where customers benefit from average speeds 5x faster than the national average. Through Virgin Media O2 Business, the company plays a leading role supporting entrepreneurs, businesses, enterprises and the public sector with their digital transformation through a range of connectivity, security, cloud and tailor-made services. Virgin Media O2 is the corporate brand of the 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica SA, and one of the UK’s largest businesses.
The company has more than 46 million UK connections across its award-winning broadband, mobile, TV and home phone services. Its fixed network covers more than half of the country (17m homes serviceable) alongside a mobile network that covers 99% of the nation’s population. The company is on track to bring 5G to all populated areas by end 2030, and offers more than 50% population 5G coverage today.
Notes to editors
*STL Partners forecasts that the UK specific market is projected to reach approximately £528M by 2030. This estimation is based on a global private networks market forecast, which anticipates the total addressable market to reach $21 billion by 2030.
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