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In July 2022, as part of its ambition to drive competition and innovation in the telecoms supply chain by expanding its UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN) and strengthening the country’s status as a global leader in telecoms research, the UK government introduced a scheme for universities to develop 5G and 6G communication services.
Now, in its latest step, research and development (R&D) into 5G and 6G wireless technology and telecoms security is to be boosted as part of the government’s £110m investment programme.
The new package will see three of the UK’s top universities – the University of York, the University of Bristol and the University of Surrey – receive a share of £28m to team up with major telecommunications companies, including Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, to design and built the networks of the future, such as 6G.
The universities will work with world-leading academics and industry players in the UK to ensure that future network technology, including 6G, is designed in a way that promotes a more diverse and innovative telecommunications market and brings an end to current setups where all equipment is inside the network. must be from one supplier.
The program will also support the roll-out of 5G mobile networks in the UK, whose slow pace in non-urban areas has drawn criticism, by making it easier for more firms to enter the market.
The package also includes £80m for the UK Telecoms Lab being built in Solihull. Under a new contract signed by the government with the National Physical Laboratory, the lab will act as a secure research facility for mobile network operators, vendors and academics to research and test the security, resilience and performance of their 5G and, in the future, 6G network technology. The facility will also create dozens of specialized telecommunications and cybersecurity jobs in the region.
“The technology that powers our phone and internet networks is evolving rapidly, and with 6G on the horizon we need to stay ahead of the curve,” commented UK Digital Secretary Michelle Donelan.
“This investment will enable the UK’s top universities to join forces with industry to develop the nuts and bolts of the new networks, create skilled jobs testing the security of the latest telecoms technology and ensure our plan for a more diverse and innovative 5G market is delivered sustains into the future,” she added.
“The funding will also boost our work to strengthen telecommunications supply chains so that we no longer rely on a handful of companies to develop and maintain our 5G networks.”
Commenting on the latest announcements, Hamish MacLeod, chief executive of Mobile UK, the trade association of UK mobile network operators, said: “Mobile UK welcomes this from the government. International collaboration and investment in R&D of this kind is absolutely necessary if the UK is to be a leader in developing open networks that promote the highest standards of security, innovation and energy efficiency.
The new funding package follows an announcement earlier in December 2022 that revealed the US, Canada and Australia had committed to working more closely together to diversify telecoms supply chains following each country’s decision to ban technology from so-called high-risk manufacturers in national communications infrastructures. . As part of this, they have signed up to UK principles for the development and deployment of equipment based on the Open RAN standard to deliver on the promise of a more competitive, innovative and secure telecommunications market.
An open RAN is key to the UK government’s £250m strategy to end the UK’s reliance on a small number of firms to build and maintain 5G networks. He believes that such an approach will help the country build a more diverse, competitive and secure telecommunications supply chain.
Following the launch of a £3.6m tender as part of the world’s first R&D project to accelerate the development of Open RAN technology, the UK government has launched an R&D partnership with the Republic of Korea aimed at accelerating the deployment of Open RAN and related technologies. The joint project will focus on the energy efficiency of new technical equipment, which is one of the main obstacles hindering the introduction of this new technology.
“It is a great pleasure to launch this UK-ROK Open RAN R&D collaboration in which Korean and UK companies will work together to develop innovative solutions for key Open RAN and telecommunications challenges,” noted President Sung Bae Jun of the Korea Institute for Information and Planning and Evaluation communication technologies.
“I am also pleased to sign a joint DCMS-IITP Terms of Service that will guide our collaboration and support further UK-RoK exchange.” Both the UK and the UK recognize the importance of initiatives to support innovation in telecommunications and to support the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure supply chains.”
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