5G Testbed Winners

The government has celebrated the anniversary of its digital strategy (outlined in the Industrial Strategy green paper to the digital economy) by granting to six projects £25m to help develop future 5G testbed roll-out. The chosen testbeds will be given between £2m and £5m.

The digital strategy was launched in March 2017 with the government’s aim of “continually driving the UK’s connectivity, telecommunications and digital sectors.”

The winning projects are:

• Liverpool’s 5G, Sensor City has been awarded a £3.5m grant to investigate the opportunities of 5G community Wi-Fi in health and social care. Sensor City, a joint venture with the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, will head up a syndicate made up of public sector health suppliers, the NHS, university researchers, local SMEs and a leading UK technology vendor, researching high-value technologies, including; low-cost open-source networks, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the Internet of Things deployed across deprived communities in the Liverpool City Region test bed.
• 5G RuralFirst, led by Cisco and the University of Strathclyde with a remit to enable some of Britain’s rural communities to be the first to benefit from the new technology.
• 5G Smart Tourism, a concept trial to develop an ultrafast network at tourist destinations in Bristol and Bath. The trial will see infrastructure developed at the Roman baths in Bath, and in and around, the, We The Curious and Millennium Square in Bristol. Run by the West of England Combined Authority.
• Worcestershire 5G consortium is receiving £4.8 million, with a further two of the consortium’s project, receiving a total of over £6 million.
• AutoAir 5G, a testbed for connected and autonomous vehicles.
• 5G Rural Integrated testbed from Quickline Communications is a partnership of SMEs and Universities building a 5G testbed which will develop and test innovative solutions for rural areas.

The minister of state for digital and the creative industries, Margot James, said: “One year on from the Digital Strategy, we are delivering on our commitments to create a Britain fit for the future, with a thriving digital economy that works for everyone. These ground-breaking projects will help to unlock 5G testbed and ensure the benefits of this new technology are felt across the economy and wider society.”

University of Liverpool academic lead for Sensor City, Professor Joe Spencer, who developed the bid, said: “A successful demonstration of a 5G testbed in health and social care will see the development of new, innovative and disruptive technologies that will help to bridge the digital divide in the UK, especially in deprived communities. 5G Wi-Fi will not only enable the development of new cost-effective products and services to address real needs and demand but also bring huge social and economic benefits for the most vulnerable in society while reducing the demand on hospital-based services.”

If you’d like to learn more about how this investment can benefit you and your business, contact a member of our team today.