Shaping the future through 5G

5G is a key technology for many cutting-edge applications. In early 2018, Swisscom joined forces with the medical devices manufacturer Ypsomed to test the industrial utilisation of 5G. By the end of 2018, Swisscom had selectively implemented a fully standardised 5G network in six cities, enabling the first successful 5G data transmissions.

At Ypsomed, 5G applications and the “factory of the future” were already a reality in early 2018. Together with Swisscom, the medical devices manufacturer tested 5G in an industrial setting. The 5G pilot run was successful and has been concluded. In future, Ypsomed plans to use several 5G services in its production.

The fully digitised manufacturing process plays a part in, for example, gradually bringing back jobs to Switzerland and making Switzerland more attractive as a business location. Ypsomed makes the infusion sets for its insulin pump in Mexico – over the last two years, the company has gradually relocated manufacturing back to Switzerland. Today, Ypsomed is producing part of the infusion sets at its production site in Solothurn, where around 70 new jobs have been created during the last two years – thanks to one of the first fully automated, 5G-digitised assembly lines in the world. The market is huge – more than 430 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes.

5G for Switzerland

Swisscom’s 5G network is already live on a test frequency in six Swiss cities, and selective expansion to 60 cities and municipalities by the end of 2019 is planned. Through our “5G for Switzerland” programme, we have been pressing ahead with our partners in research and industry since 2016 to introduce the next generation of mobile communications.