Swedish telco Telia has confirmed it's using drones to increase its 5G network for the logging industry.

Telia carried out a test where it equipped a drone with its own portable mobile base station, enabling forestry machinery to be remotely controlled via 5G in an area with limited connectivity.

The trial took place in a forest outside Västerås, Sweden, as part of a research project involving Mittuniversitetet, Telia, Ericsson, Skogforsk, SCA, Volvo CE, and Biometria, co-funded by Vinnova and the program for Advanced Digitalization.

Telia said the test was conducted in early May, noting that it was successful.

"We can now establish that it is possible to connect and remotely control large vehicles via a drone, which in practice acts as a base station in the mobile network,” said Magnus Leonhardt, head of strategy and innovation for Telia Sweden’s B2B business.

“This creates completely new and flexible opportunities to connect businesses that work in areas with insufficient network coverage. Apart from the forestry and agricultural industry, the technology can be used in disaster areas if normal mobile coverage is completely knocked out.”

The forestry machine was delivered to a clear-cutting site where it was connected using 5G technology mounted on a drone.

Telia noted that although the drone was around 500 meters from the forestry machine it created a coverage area extending up to three kilometers.

The driver of the forestry machine was in Skogforsk’s remote control lab in Uppsala, roughly 80km away.

According to Telia, the purpose of the project is to investigate how drone technology and 5G technology could enable rural areas around Sweden to work with remote-controlled vehicles.