Ericsson and Vodafone are proclaiming success in their efforts to develop innovations in 5G network technology.

The companies have developed a prototype system called the 5G Smart Network Edge, which connected Ericsson’s Eurolab in Aachen, Germany, with Vodafone’s 5G lab in Düsseldorf, Germany. To demonstrate how data could be sent more efficiently in a 5G network, the companies ran a cloud-based facial recognition system on their 5G Smart Network Edge, and in a statement have asserted that “reduced network latencies” helped to improve its speed, while “significantly less video traffic” needed to be transmitted.

The trial was the product of a commitment the companies made to exploring 5G technology at this February’s Mobile World Congress, and they say it’s a demonstration of the kinds of sophisticated computer vision technologies enabled by 5G connectivity. Such applications are expected to be an important component of the emerging Internet of Things and particularly of the industrial IoT.

Ericsson also demonstrated LPWA cellular technology at the recent Mobile World Congress Shanghai, indicating the company’s intense focus on R&D in connectivity in anticipation of the IoT.