Verizon and Ericsson will be partnering to run trials of their 5G wireless technology at the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500, the pair announced Monday.

The test will occur the day before the historic race in a 5G-connected home close to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, according to a press release. The house will use a gateway based on the Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform, the press release said, to live stream races in both 4K 360-degree video and virtual reality (VR), making use of “multi-gigabit per-second network speeds with low latency,” the release said.

The home is located in Speedway, IN, and a live demo of its capabilities will be streamed on Facebook on May 24 at 1:30 pm Eastern Standard Time. At that time, interested viewers can see the demo here.

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According to the press release, the 5G technology being tested offers wireless speeds up to 100 times faster than current networks. The capability of high-bandwidth uploads makes it easier to deploy Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices, VR and augmented reality (AR) applications, and cloud-based security cameras, the release said.

However, the technology will also change the race itself. Along with live streaming video, each car and driver will be connected to hundreds of sensors collecting and streaming mountains of data, the release noted. Verizon will also have a 5G-connected car at the race.

In a 5G mobility test, “sustained broadband speeds of over 6.4 Gb/sec were reached in a car moving at speeds in excess of 60 mph,” the release said. 5G is able to achieve this connectivity through the use of a function called beam tracking that sends information more directly to a single target.

“It’s exciting to have them test their new 5G wireless service during the Indianapolis 500,” Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet in the Verizon IndyCar Series, said in the release. “Indianapolis is the birthplace of speed and innovation for INDYCAR racing, making it a fitting place to experience the increased speed of 5G technology on the eve of the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.”

Additionally, Ericsson’s head of product area network systems Per Narvinger said in the release that that 5G will “enable new use cases for people and businesses, which will make our world safer, more efficient and more environmentally sustainable.”

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

  1. Verizon and Ericsson are partnering on 5G wireless trials at the famous Indy 500 race in Indianapolis this year.
  2. The trials will take place at a home close to the speedway, testing the ability to stream 4K 360 HD video and VR applications.
  3. Verizon will also have a 5G-connected car that was able to sustain 6.4 Gb/sec speeds in a test.