Sporting venues and tourism hotspots across the UK will see trials of new mobile tech designed to increase the resilience of the UK mobile network and reduce reliance reliant on any one form of technology, thanks to £88 million of UK government R&D investment in innovative connectivity.
The 19 successful projects in the Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) Competition include Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and National eSport Arena, Liverpool’s urban centre, and Blackpool sea front.
The funding will enable the successful projects to develop and demonstrate a range of innovative technological solutions to improve connectivity in places with some of the biggest demand on mobile services. This includes busy locations like cities, airports, stadiums, or large venues where many people use their devices simultaneously, posing a challenge for mobile networks to handle high levels of traffic.
The ONE competition was designed to demonstrate how this new way of building mobile networks can deliver fast, dependable connectivity in busy places where many people need wireless connections. Instead of using only one company’s equipment, Open RAN enables different companies’ technology to work together, which can make the network better and more flexible.
The projects will initiate trials of open 5G networks across the country, in:
- major urban centres in Glasgow, Cambridge, Liverpool, Bath, and the City of London
- iconic sports and entertainment venues including Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, the National eSport Arena, Cambridge Corn Exchange, and Shelsley Walsh motorsport venue
- the historic seaside resorts of Blackpool and Worthing
Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure Sir John Whittingdale 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.”
In Sunderland, the state-of-the-art ‘Sunderland Open Network EcosysTem’ (SONET) Project is led by Sunderland City Council and a consortium of partners – Boldyn Networks, British Esports, Sunderland Football Club and Perform Green – who are harnessing next generation technology to enable more engaging interactions, enriching the future of live-streamed football and live global esports events.
Liz St Louis, director of smart cities and enabling services at Sunderland City Council, said: “Enabled by grant funding from the Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) competition, we are delighted to launch the SONET Project.
“This innovative project will create a more immersive and engaging experience for Esports players and fans at British Esports new National Esports Performance Campus in Sunderland, as well as evolving the football ground of Sunderland FC, the Stadium of Light, to meet the needs of future generations, by providing engaging event content and interactive digital experiences.
“With no other esports venue in the world matching SONET’s unique Open RAN infrastructure, National Esports Performance Campus will lead the way globally, significantly contributing to the UK’s capabilities.”
Running until March 2025, the projects are part of the government’s Open Networks Research and Development Fund, dedicated to building secure and resilient communications infrastructure and enhancing competition and innovation within the 5G telecoms supply chain.
