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The internet of cows: 5G has already arrived for this herd

April 15, 2019

Telecom companies around the world are racing to claim the latest 5G milestones, but one lucky group has got there before most of us: a herd of Friesian dairy cows in the UK, Reuters reports.

Say what? Cisco is testing out its network infrastructure for 5G in three rural locations in the UK, including a farm where cows wear a 5G-connected collar that controls a robot milking system.

How it works: It means the gates to the milking area can be opened automatically. The 5G-connected collars and health-monitoring ear tags also transmit biometric data and help workers monitor the herd from afar.

The context: 5G is the next generation of mobile connectivity, and it promises to give us super-fast speeds, enabling all sorts of technology like driverless cars (or, in the meantime, just letting you download that film a lot more quickly). It’s unlikely any country will achieve nationwide coverage before 2023, though.

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