DCMS has announced a new £65 million funding to support and accelerate the UK’s adoption of 5G.

The Government’s announcement on 20 February 2020 includes:

• £30 million for the Rural Connected Communities (RCC) competition for seven 5G research and development projects across the UK. This includes five in England, one in Wales and one in Scotland with plans to expand into Northern Ireland. Test sites will be set up in Yorkshire , Gwent, Monmouthshire, Orkney, Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, Dorset, Shropshire and Worcestershire.
• more than £5 million of funding will be awarded to two industrial projects, led by Ford Motor Company and Zeetta Networks, to test the benefits of using 5G to boost productivity in the manufacturing sector.
• an additional new £30 million open competition. Launching in March 2020, 5G Create will look at how 5G can create new opportunities in industries including film, TV, video games, logistics and tourism.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said:
“We’re determined to make the UK a world-leader in 5G and deliver on our promise to improve connections for people and businesses across the country.

“Today we’re announcing new funding to seize the new opportunities this technology will offer us.”

Research lead professor Mohammad Patwary, from Birmingham City University, said:
“This is a unique opportunity for the UK to become a world-leader exploiting the technological innovation that 5G can offer by developing and using innovative technology for destination branding for the visitor economy, preserving the wellbeing of the environment, and creating a scalable and sustainable commercial grade experimental network; a world first.

“5G has speeds up to ten times faster than 4G and will greatly increase mobile capacity across the UK, meaning more people will be able to get online and find and download the content they want, without slowdown.

“But 5G is about more than a speedier internet connection. It uses technology that is far more advanced than that of our current mobile networks, so as time goes on it could transform the way we interact with critical services – from energy and water, to transport and healthcare.

It will also drive the adoption of new technologies such as driverless cars, remote healthcare and the ‘smart’ devices we increasingly use in our homes and at work.”

5G has speeds up to ten times faster than 4G and will greatly increase mobile capacity across the UK, meaning more people will be able to get online and find and download the content they want, without slowdown.

But 5G is about more than a speedier internet connection. It uses technology that is far more advanced than that of our current mobile networks, so as time goes on it could transform the way we interact with critical services – from energy and water, to transport and healthcare.

It will also drive the adoption of new technologies such as driverless cars, remote healthcare and the ‘smart’ devices we increasingly use in our homes and at work.

Further information

Full details can be found on the DCMS website