- Will guide firms seeking R&D funding or collaboration on
Open RAN and other disruptive tech
- Comes as new stats show two-thirds of UK premises can access
lightning-fast gigabit broadband
The UK will be a world leader in telecoms research and
development under plans for a new government-funded organisation
dedicated to boosting innovation in the country’s telecoms supply
chain.
The UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN) will act as an
information point for telecoms companies looking to access
funding or testing facilities for R&D and opportunities to
collaborate on developing new and improved technologies for UK
mobile and broadband networks.
The government has today launched a competition
for organisations to apply for up to £10 million to establish and
run the centre, which will support innovators at the right time
to scale up, develop their products, gain better access to
telecoms markets and drive exports abroad.
It comes as new independent figures from ThinkBroadband show that
two-thirds of UK homes and businesses (66.75%) can now access
lightning-fast gigabit broadband. This is a huge rise on 2019
when coverage was just 6 per cent and shows rapid progress is
being made in the government’s plan to speed up the rollout of
better broadband and level up communities with faster internet
speeds.
The UKTIN will be run by a consortium of organisations with
telecoms expertise and will support knowledge sharing and
collaboration on open and interoperable network technologies such
as Open RAN, which allows telecoms companies to mix and match
telecoms equipment rather than having to rely on a single
supplier when building or maintaining networks.
The technology is considered crucial to the government’s £250
million strategy to lower
barriers for firms seeking to enter the UK telecoms supply chain
- which will increase competition, drive up the quality of
products and services and reduce the UK’s current reliance on a
small number of international suppliers.
Digital Infrastructure Minister said:
The UK Telecoms Innovation Network will be the first port of call
for any telecoms company looking to access R&D funding and a
matchmaker for firms looking to join forces on cutting-edge
projects.
Ultimately this is about making the UK the best place in the
world to develop rapid and seamless new technology for the
digital networks that will power our economy well into the 21st
century.
The UKTIN will be tasked with creating an up-to-date database of
information on R&D funding in the public and private sector.
It will also create an annual report which maps out the latest
developments and opportunities in disruptive and innovative
telecoms technology in the UK, including Open RAN.
Setting up the UKTIN was one of the key recommendations in last
year’s report from the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce: an
independent body set up by the government to advise on necessary
steps to transform the UK’s telecoms supply chain so it is more
competitive, innovative and secure.
The UKTIN is expected to be up and running by the end of the
year, with the winning consortium announced in the summer.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Up to £10m is available for the competition. We are asking
applicants to submit two bids one for £5m and another for £10m.
We will then determine the bid which represents the most value
for money.
- Funding for the UKTIN is subject to Programme Business Case
approval.
- The deadline for applications is noon on 20 May 2022.
- We will be holding a briefing event for companies who are
interested in applying to the competition on the 7 April 2022.
Please register your interest online here
to attend.
