5G Testbeds Secure Funding

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16 March 2018

The government has announced the winners of a £25 million competition to pave the way for a future rollout of 5G technology in the UK.

The move came just before the Spring Statement and coincides with the first anniversary of the Digital Strategy penned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Margot James MP.

the winners will test 5G across a range of applications, including smart farming with drones, using the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) to improve healthcare, increasing manufacturing productivity and maximising the future benefits of self-driving cars.

This is part of a £1 billion commitment through the Digital Strategy to keep Britain at the forefront of connectivity by accelerating the deployment of next generation digital infrastructure and driving forward new 5G business opportunities.

Margot James, Minister of State for Digital and the Creative Industries, said: "One year on from the Digital Strategy, we are delivering on our commitments to create a thriving digital economy. The ground breaking projects will help to unlock 5G and ensure the benefits of this new technology are felt across the economy and wider society."

Distribution

Each testbed will receive between £2 million and £5 million in government grants, as part of a total investment of £41 million from private sector and other public sector funding, to explore new ‘fifth generation’ mobile communications technologies that use high frequency spectrum to deliver internet speeds of over a gigabit per second.

Professor Rahim Tafazolli, Founder and Director of 5GIC and leader of 5GUK Networks said: "5G represents a fundamental transformation of the role that mobile technology plays in society, delivering rich new services in sectors such as finance, transport, retail and health. It will drive trillions of dollars of additional activity through the world digital economy and the DCMS programme will ensure that the UK stays at the forefront of this global race.

Picture: 5G is on the way

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 16 March 2018

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