April 2024, Tel Aviv - Cando Drones, a drone operations specialist, and High Lander, a provider of drone fleet management and uncrewed traffic management solutions, have executed the first drone flight using the new 5G MAX network of Pelephone, one of Israel’s principal mobile network operators.
The demonstration marks a new era in drone connectivity and scalability at a time when the use and capabilities of drones are growing rapidly throughout Israel.
Pelephone’s 5G MAX network, launched last week in collaboration with Ericsson, is a new mobile network based on 5G Standalone technology, offering an improved user experience, higher speeds, lower latency and prioritization during peak times. Providing connectivity to the drone ecosystem will be one of the common applications of the new network, and so the telecommunications giant turned to Israel’s leading drone companies to execute the first flight.
The Israeli drone ecosystem is in need of reliable connectivity at ever-greater scales for drone operations in the commercial and public arenas, and especially for security purposes. As such, Pelephone’s powerful new network will be a game-changer. 5G MAX also enables dynamic reservation and allocation of network resources which will further safeguard connectivity for drones at times of high system usage, such as during public events.
"We are happy to be partners in Pelephone's groundbreaking move in launching the new 5G MAX network. The test flight, carried out together with High Lander, demonstrates the capabilities of the drones that fly on the new network, and was a great success,” said Yulia Katz, VP Strategy at Cando Drones. “We are entering a new era in which it will be possible to integrate various drones into smart city management systems in Israel, and we are proud to be the company that leads the field in Israel.”
Cando Drones executed the flight using High Lander’s Orion drone fleet management platform. This software solution enables multiple simultaneous missions, BVLOS flights, a real-time cockpit mode, live video feed sharing and more - features which all require reliable, high-bandwidth telecommunications infrastructure.
"Pelephone's new network will provide a crucial upgrade in the reliability and scalability of communications at a time when we are expecting more and more from our drones, both for business and for public safety,” said Alon Abelson, CEO and co-founder of High Lander. “We’re proud that Pelephone chose us and our partners to execute this historic flight and demonstrate one of the most important functions of the new network.”
Dror Bahat, Pelephone's VP of Marketing, added: "Our new MAX G5 network core will dramatically improve the surfing experience of our customers and will improve many aspects of our lives, including in the field of drone operations. We are happy to cooperate with Cando Drones and High Lander in this respect, and we’ve opened the new network to additional companies and startups to invite them to join and develop capabilities on our new network."