BT Business highlighted the impact of a drone system used by the British Transport Police (BTP) intended to cut disruption caused by trespassers and other issues on the country’s rail network, a deployment set to be expanded over the next two years.

The police division is using BT’s drone SIM system and connectivity from its EE unit in a project the operator stated is able to cut response times for various problems taking place across the UK’s rail network.

It asserted the deployment is the first national routine use of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones by a police force in the UK.

The first routine operations using the drones took place earlier this year, with the BTP now operating seven so-called drone-in-a-box locations across the rail network. It plans to expand to 14 over the next two years.  

BT explained with 20,000 miles of railway track to cover, BTP faced challenges in responding quickly to trespass, welfare and operational disruption issues which often occur in remote areas.

It noted officers previously had to travel significant distances to assess situations, “delaying critical operational decisions”.

The drone system is intended to support real-time intelligence, faster decision making and safer responses.

Head of BTP’s drones programme Simon Bachelor said the technology is “transforming the way we respond to incidents across the rail network”.

“Real-time aerial intelligence enables our teams to assess situations faster, deploy resources more effectively and improve safety for both officers and the public.”

BT added “as drones become an increasingly important tool for transport, law enforcement and public safety organisations”, it is working with a range of entities “to turn emerging technology into real-world operational benefits, improving safety, efficiency and resilience”.

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Health company M42 positioned a deal with Oracle as its latest step to establish the UAE at the centre of the global market, with the pair deploying a product offering unified access to patient data.

Oracle stated M42 intends to use its Health Data Intelligence product on clinical, genomic and real-world data to boost management of chronic diseases and enable a host of other services.

These include mapping the health of populations and providing precise care.

Oracle stated M42 is on a mission to establish the UAE as “a global hub for healthcare innovation” and a leader in employing AI to overhaul the sector.

Dr. Ali Anees, CCO for UAE and Bahrain at M42, said the company is a long-term user of Oracle’s health products and has high expectations about what can be achieved through the combination of information detailed above.

The executive expects the work to speed detection, and deliver “more predictive insights” and tailored patient healthcare.

M42 hopes the Oracle products will advance ambitions to deliver comprehensive patient records which it expects to aid healthcare providers’ work by offering a big-picture overview.

It expects the unified approach and ability of AI to digest reams of data to help identify disease patterns and contributing factors.

AI is also being banked on to deliver swifter diagnoses and detection of emerging health trends.

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Juniper Research predicted a bright future for private mobile network spending due to heightened demand for infrastructure capable of extracting the full benefits of AI in business operations.

The company expects outlay on private LTE and 5G networks to hit $84.7 billion in 2031 compared with $17.3 billion this year.

Juniper Research suggested infrastructure providers may reap the greatest benefits by partnering with companies specialising in enterprise AI systems and positioning private networks “as a natural part” of modernisation initiated by the technology.

It argued private networks “are increasingly becoming the default way” to meet the connectivity requirements of AI.

VP of research Nick Maynard believes differentiation will emerge as the secret of future vendor success.

He highlighted “proven Industry 4.0, operational technology and mission-critical applications” as fields where vendors could fully establish an edge on rivals, pointing to services including automated guided vehicles, machine vision, and predictive maintenance and industrial control operations as prime opportunities.

To capitalise, private network vendors should “develop architecture that is repeatable, but highly tailored to individual sectors”, Maynard advised.

Juniper Research ranked current equipment vendors based on their shift “away from general enterprise connectivity” towards systems specific to industrial use cases.

It did not offer any big surprises in a top-five ranking of vendors in the here and now, with Nokia leading Huawei, Samsung, HPE and Ericsson, respectively.

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SES launched the final three birds in its 13-satellite O3b mPOWER medium Earth orbit constellation, adding thrust to its connectivity play for enterprise, cloud service providers, governments and mobile operators.

The company is now in the process of commissioning the trio, which it expects to be fully operational by mid-2027.

SES noted the satellites would extend the availability of “high-performance connectivity”; improve the resilience of the O3b mPOWER constellation; advance sovereign data capabilities; and boost the relay of data through space.

CEO Adel Al-Saleh said SES is combining “multiple technologies and orbits” to meet the needs of customers across various sectors.

The satellites support SES’ work to “deliver resilient, secure and scalable connectivity”.

SES’ satellites flew on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket yesterday (13 September). The 10 birds already in orbit can handle data rates “ranging from tens of Mb/s to multiple Gb/s”, the company stated.

The trio run a Boeing software-defined payload technology which the aerospace player separately explained enables them to “dynamically route bandwidth, focus beam power and adjust capacity in real time”.

Boeing stated companies in the cruise line sector, “government organisations, civil entities, mobile operators and commercial airlines” use SES’ existing O3b mPOWER satellites.

“Technology is at its best when it has a direct line-of-sight to human impact,” Ryan Reid, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, declared.

Reid added SES’ satellites deliver the in-space baseline for a dual-use satellite architecture Boeing developed to work in multiple orbits.

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