This is a voyage to the high-tech frontier.

A salmon farm, in the choppy waters of the north Atlantic, near Scotland's storm-tossed Orkney islands.

Sensors on the fish pens here are connected via 5G.

That's the new generation of mobile networks, which offer a massive increase in data speeds.

It's just one of the locations for a UK test of what 5G can do for out-of-the-way business.

The fish farm's production manager says the possibilities are endless:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SCOTTISH SEA FARMS ORKNEY REGIONAL PRODUCTION MANAGER, RICHARD DARBYSHIRE, SAYING:

"We've got sensors on some of our silos and our doors from a security point of view. We've got sensors in the silos, we can do automatic feed ordering. We can look at monitoring fish performance and fish growth."

The trial wrapped up in September.

It was part-funded by the UK government, and run by a team led by tech firm Cisco.

On shore the test benefited Orkney firms like this small distiller:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SCAPA DISTILLERY OPERATIONS MANAGER, GRAHAM CRUICKSHANK, SAYING:

"So one man is looking after the entire process from start to finish. So that mobility and access to the process information, via the tablet technology, improves our process and allows our guys to have more of a handle on the process at any given time."

Like many rural communities, Orkney feels a lack of fast internet connections.

With few people, it's never been a priority for network operators.

But 5G also enables the so-called Internet of Things - millions of devices connected with fast data.

That could benefit all kinds of rural business, from farms to renewable energy.

Cisco says the benefits would go much wider:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION FOR CISCO IN EUROPE, NICK CHRISSOS, SAYING:

"We're providing connectivity in the rural communities and this by itself can have an enormous effect. You might see people really moving to the rural areas now because the connectivity is as good as in the cities."

When 5G is fully switched on...

Orkney might suddenly feel a whole lot less remote.