5G applications can be seen in use on 100 hectares of exhibition grounds in Hanover, Germany.

With a quantum leap into the future, Deutsche Messe AG in Germany intends to position itself as a showcase for the world of the future: As the world’s first and so far only trade fair company, it intends to equip its facilities with a nationwide 5G infrastructure. Deutsche Messe is thus successively developing the 100-hectare exhibition grounds into a highly innovative multifunctional campus that will be available 365 days a year as a test site for 5G real-time use cases. A new 5G exhibition will be launched in 2020: the 5G CMM Expo.

This year’s Hannover Messe with its 5G Arena was just the beginning: Deutsche Messe’s “Smart Venue” project – i.e. smart conference venue – goes much further. The aim of the Hanover-based trade fair company is to equip all halls and the outdoor area with the new 5G mobile communications standard by summer 2020. Thanks to the permanent availability of 5G, numerous innovative applications from industry, mobility, logistics, smart city or health can be tested and demonstrated in the future, which would not be feasible without 5G. “5G is the key technology for further digital transformation processes of the economy and society, because only with 5G  the consumer Internet will become an industrial Internet,” says Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe.

Long-term 5G network exhibition site

“The connectivity of intelligent machines in smart manufacturing, autonomous driving, vertical logistics or even smart farming requires a radio-based, mobile gigabit connection. That’s why we are expanding our exhibition grounds in Hanover into a showcase for the future, where we can see how the working world and public life will change in the coming years. Lower Saxony’s Minister of Economics and Deutsche Messe Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Bernd Althusmann adds: “Once again, a worldwide innovation is emanating from the Hanover exhibition center. With the first permanent 5G networked exhibition center, Deutsche Messe is underlining its pioneering role in the organization of leading international trade fairs. A functioning, nationwide 5G infrastructure is crucial for the future viability of Germany as an industrial location. In this context, Deutsche Messe with its 5G site has a role model function: In future, the possibilities of tomorrow’s technologies and innovative applications will be visible in Hanover 365 days a year thanks to the 5G standard”.

A public and a private network

5G improves connectivity and accelerates response times. Numerous demanding applications in the Internet of Things (IoT) are only  possible thanks to 5G. Examples include Industry 4.0 and new traffic guidance systems, as well as networked supply and disposal concepts in cities or in the field of e-health telemedicine and robot-assisted operations. As a first step, Deutsche Messe will install a public and private 5G network for the urban infrastructure of the exhibition grounds. The 100-hectare site comprises more than 30 halls and buildings, some 10 kilometers of traffic routes and several thousand parking spaces.

On the one hand, the planned network will enable 5G applications to be demonstrated at existing trade fairs and new services to be offered in the future. On the other hand, the site will also become a test field and multi-functional campus, enabling at all times 5G real-time use cases in a protected and controlled environment.

First 5G exhibition: 5G CMM Expo

A new congress and trade show format completes Deutsche Messes 5G offensive: The 5G CMM Expo congress and trade show will be the annual flagship event for the key technology 5G. CMM stands for Connected Mobile Machines. The first congress on this topic will be held as early as October 2019. In autumn 2020 the first trade fair will then be launched.