UK councils win funding to trial open 5G networks

Local authorities are among the recipients of an £88 million (US$108 million) investment from the UK government in open 5G connectivity.

The funding was awarded to 19 projects through the Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) competition, designed to demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of Open Radio Access Network (RAN) technology at busy locations like cities, airports and stadiums.

Open RAN refers to a new way of building mobile networks – instead of using only one company’s equipment, Open RAN enables different vendors’ technologies to work together. This aims to offer greater performance, agility and flexibility.

Sir John Whittingdale, Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure, said: “Whether you’re in a busy city centre or a rural village, a fast and reliable mobile connection is vital to staying in touch, accessing services and doing business.

“In order to secure that, we need to embrace a diverse and secure range of technology that will underpin the network.

“The projects we’re backing today with £88 million in government research and development investment will use innovative Open RAN solutions to make our mobile networks more adaptable and resilient, with future-proofed technology to support bringing lightning-fast connections across the country for many years to come.”

Projects

Running until March 2025, the selected schemes include the ONE WORD project, which was awarded £9.9 million to deploy a 5G stand-alone RAN in four high-density demand scenarios: the City of Bath, around Cardiff’s Principality stadium, a set of pop-up event sites in Worcestershire, and Shrewsbury’s Quarry Park. Consortium members include the West of England Combined Authority, Bath & North East Somerset Council, Shropshire Council, Worcestershire Council and Cardiff Council, alongside a range of technology partners and the University of Lancaster.

A Liverpool City Region project that received £9 million aims to “quantify and explicitly demonstrate the benefits [of Open RAN] to mobile communications markets and overcome challenges in assuring local authorities and asset owners of sustained economic and social benefits.” It will include delivering a simulated environment for efficient network and application development to reduce risks in the deployment.

West Sussex County Council is part of the BEACH project which received £8.9 million to implement an energy-efficient shared mobile network in Worthing that adapts to rapid changes in user demand.

The Cambridgeshire Open RAN Ecosystem (CORE) project, led by Cambridgeshire County Council, received £6.5 million to deliver a multi-vendor 5G Open RAN neutral host platform catering for high-demand density locations.

The Sunderland Open Network EcosysTem (SONET) project with Sunderland City Council received £5.7 million and aims to improve the way people experience live sports and esports. It will showcase a new high-density demand Open RAN solution at the Stadium of Light and the new British Esports Arena.

2030 target

Dorset Open Networks Ecosystem (DONE) builds on existing work by Dorset council and aims to further define “the blueprint for rural connectivity” by advancing development of open-source RANs and exploring the use of technology alternatives to standard network equipment. The project received £3.6 million.

The REACH project, which includes Blackpool Council, brings together partners to find new solutions to address high volumes of mobile traffic in tourist areas. The initiative was awarded £3.1 million.

Glasgow City Council is a partner in the Open Network Shared Spectrum Innovation and Design Environment (ON-SIDE) project, which received £1.9 million to address key challenges associated with deploying private 5G stand-alone networks operating in shared access radio spectrum, such as obtaining suitable spectrum licences and affordability of kit.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said that mobile network operators BT/EE, Three UK, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone have endorsed the UK’s Open RAN Principles.

A Memorandum of Understanding reaffirms the ambition for 35 percent of the UK’s network traffic to pass through open and interoperable RAN technologies by 2030.

The Open Networks Ecosystem competition is part of the government’s £250 million 5G Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Strategy to bring more suppliers into the market. It was launched after the government announced a plan to restrict “high risk vendors” and set a deadline for equipment from Chinese vendor Huawei to be removed from UK 5G networks by 2027, leaving operators overly reliant on just Nokia and Ericsson.