The United Kingdom has launched the Open Networks Ecosystem Competition, offering up to $96.2M of funding in the next phase of the U.K. Open Networks Research and Development Fund. Through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, funding will be provided for the development of software and hardware products that will enable open, interoperable technology, as well as for demonstrations of Open RAN technologies.
The competition aims to tackle barriers to the adoption of open mobile networks in high demand/high density use cases, such as stadiums and urban areas. Another area is improving RAN software and real-time RAN intelligent controllers. The U.K. also wants to accelerate the development of performant open interface RAN hardware, such as analogue RF and antenna components, RF chips, and baseband processing solutions. The competition is part of the government’s Open Networks R&D Fund, which has devoted $300.7 million to 5G Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Strategy.
“This 5G Diversification Strategy is a clear and ambitious plan to grow our telecoms supply chain while ensuring it is resilient to future trends and threats,” wrote Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. “It has three core strands: supporting incumbent suppliers; attracting new suppliers into the U.K. market; and accelerating the development and deployment of open-interface solutions.”
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