The funding includes £80 million for a UK Telecoms Lab being built in Solihull in the West Midlands. Under a new contract the government has signed with the National Physical Laboratory, the lab will act as a secure research facility for mobile network operators, suppliers and academics.
The facility will be used to research and test the security, resilience and performance of 5G and, in the future, 6G network technologies. The facility will also create dozens of specialised jobs in telecoms and cybersecurity for the region.
The investment will also provide three UK universities – University of York, University of Bristol and University of Surrey – with a share of £28 million to team up with telecoms companies including Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung to design and build networks of the future.
The universities will work with UK academics and industry players to ensure future network technologies, including 6G, are designed in a way that promotes a more diverse and innovative telecoms market.
A new research and development partnership with the Republic of Korea has also kicked off, which aims to accelerate the deployment of Open RAN and associated technologies.
The joint project, which will receive more than £3 million (including £1.2 million from the UK Government), will focus on the power efficiency of emerging technical equipment.
These initiatives are designed to help the country to build a more diverse, competitive and secure telecoms supply chain. Michelle Donelan, the digital secretary, said, “The technology powering our phone and internet networks is evolving rapidly and with 6G on the horizon we must stay ahead of the curve.
“This government investment will see top UK universities join forces with industry to develop the nuts and bolts underpinning new networks, create skilled jobs testing the security of the latest telecoms tech, and ensure our plan for a more diverse and innovative 5G market is sustained in the future.
“The funding will also turbocharge our work to strengthen telecoms supply chains, so we are no longer reliant on a handful of companies to develop and maintain our 5G networks.”
Hamish MacLeod, chief executive of Mobile UK, added, “Mobile UK welcomes this package of announcements from the Government.
“International collaboration and investment in research and development of this kind are absolutely essential if the UK is to be a leader in the development of open networks that push for the highest standards of security, innovation and power efficiency.”