UK Brings 5G 10 Regions
- By CDOTrends editors
- November 27, 2023
Ten areas across the U.K. have won a share of GBP36m in government funding to accelerate 5G-enabled innovation as part of the national government’s Wireless Infrastructure Strategy.
The ten areas will become 5G Innovation Regions (5GIRs). The projects include using 5G connectivity to monitor crops and livestock, smart systems to reduce congestion, and portable 5G networks to enable high-speed live broadcasts from remote locations.
The funding will drive the development and adoption of 5G and other advanced wireless technologies—ensuring communities in towns, cities and rural areas take full advantage of the benefits advanced wireless connectivity and digital technologies can provide and attract commercial investment to grow the economy.
One 5GIR is the Glasgow City Region, which will receive over GBP3 million to deliver a health and social care-focused project using advanced wireless technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart city applications, to improve public services.
The project will specifically focus on monitoring and maintaining assets, creating environmentally friendly social housing, and improving the monitoring of health and social care services.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority will receive over GBP3 million, part of which will be used to 5G-enable hundreds of air-source heat pumps across social housing in the region. This model could be rolled out nationally.
Using 5G, the U.K. will accelerate the creation of Smart Energy Grids and benefit residents, industry, and public services by allowing them to better monitor energy use and save money on their bills.
These projects are designed to stimulate demand for 5G connectivity, with research showing widespread adoption could result in productivity benefits of GBP159 billion across the U.K. by 2035.
The successful regions will deliver the government's vision set out in the U.K. Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April 2023, for communities across the U.K. to take full advantage of the transformative impact of advanced wireless connectivity.
The U.K. government has also established the Digital Infrastructure Advisory Group to support regions adopting 5G and other advanced wireless technologies.
Image credit: iStockphoto/Violka08