5G Testbeds and Trials Programme
The 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme is the government’s nationally coordinated programme of investment in 5G.
About the programme
The 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme (5GTT), part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), looks to harness areas where the UK has a competitive advantage – such as in scientific research, engineering talent and our rich variety of technology businesses.
The Programme is exploring the benefits and challenges of deploying 5G technologies in line with the following key objectives:
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Accelerate the deployment of 5G networks and ensure the UK can take early advantage of the applications those networks can enable.
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Maximise the productivity and efficiency benefits to the UK from 5G.
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Create new opportunities for UK businesses at home and abroad, and encourage inward investment.
Successes so far:
We’ve already completed 8 projects and have over 30 more projects up and running in 34 counties across 13 regions across the UK, with around 200 project partners.
We’ve encouraged industry to take a leading position in global 5G deployment. We saw all four mobile network operators launching 5G networks in the UK during 2019.
Across the Programme, we’re exploring 140 5G use cases accelerating 5G adoption in targeted sectors (including agriculture, utilities, automotive, transport and logistics).
We’re supporting over 10 new and emerging equipment vendors and testing new access technologies in a range of trials to help broaden and secure the UK’s telecom supply chain in line with the government’s diversification strategy.
Despite the impact of coronavirus, the 5G projects have been resilient in their progress and testing, and 15 new projects from the 5G Create competition were awarded £28 million of industry matched funding in late 2020.
The video below shows some of the benefits 5G could bring through the programme’s initial portfolio of projects. More information on our latest projects to follow over the next few months
5G Testbeds and Trials Programme
Next Steps:
5GTT is supporting NeutrORAN, a collaborative research project led by Japanese IT and networking multinational, NEC, with grant funding of £1.6 million.
The project will create a neutral host Open RAN testbed in the UK. Open RAN is an open-interface solution that is key to diversifying the UK 5G supply chain. The project has been awarded £1.6 million of grant funding.
5GTT is supporting The SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre (SONIC) with a grant of £1 million.
SONIC is a joint programme between Digital Catapult and Ofcom for testing interoperability and integration of open networking solutions, starting with Open RAN. SONIC will be live and operational from May 2021, and will evolve over time to contribute to broader national testbed and laboratory initiatives.
Latest news
13 January 2021
£28 million to trial innovative new uses of 5G to improve people’s lives
The joint investment from government and businesses will fund nine UK-wide projects that will seize the benefits of 5G and help British industries.
13 July 2020
Funding boost for UK tech innovators to seize opportunities of 5G technology
The next wave of government-funded research and development projects aiming to put Britain at the forefront of 5G technology have been announced.
20 February 2020
New £65 million package for 5G trials
Winners of £35 million funding pot to help Britain unlock potential of 5G announced, and new £30 million 5G competition for sectors launched as part of government’s continued commitment to level up infrastructure across the UK.
Get involved
We’re keen to engage with new stakeholders who want to find out more about the 5G Programme and who want to work with government to help build the business case for 5G and actively foster the 5G ecosystem and lead on 5G R&D across the UK.
We’re working with the UK5G Innovation Network (UK5G), which was created to boost and strengthen the development of the 5G ecosystem in the UK. The network currently has around 4,000 members from more than 1600 organisations.
To stay up to date with the latest news, collaboration activities and developments on 5G across the UK, sign up to the UK5G website
If you are a supplier or vendor working on 5G technology, please add your company’s details to the UK5G Supplier’s Directory.
For more information on 5G activity in the UK and insight and commentary on the latest developments coming out of the wide variety of active 5G trials, please see the UK5G Innovation Briefings.
We’ll be providing further updates on the sectors of the programme soon.
Current projects
Please zoom into the map to see more detail.
Programme findings
The 5G Programme also funded the 5GUK Test Networks, which built and integrated three university testbeds (University of Surrey, King’s College London and the University of Bristol) to provide the UK’s first end-to-end 5G network.
5G private Standalone (SA) networks are becoming increasingly popular in a number of industrial projects. They can increase efficiency by allowing the full potential of 5G to be realised, including much lower latency, using only 5G radio with a new 5G core.
Trials show that 5G has great potential to deliver enhanced visitor experiences through AR and VR applications to smartphones and headsets in tourism, sports and the arts.
Using wireless 5G backhaul avoids digging up roads in urban areas and has provided significant advantages for a number of projects.
In running an effective, government-led innovation programme, we’ve found it’s vital to include a mix of private and public sector experience in the team, including expert technical advisors.
Collaboration between 5G projects is an important aspect of an innovation programme to help build and expand the 5G ecosystem across the UK. This should be one of the key priorities.
The initial portfolio of projects successfully developed small-scale testbeds and they were used by projects to trial 69 technologies, products and applications. For example:
- The Liverpool 5G project created the largest 5G mmWave mesh network in the UK and second largest in the world, using the city council’s fibre CCTV ring and lampposts for the backhaul.
- This provided an affordable private network that could be used to test new health applications, such as a medication support device (PAMAN) and reducing loneliness amongst elderly patients.
- The University of Bristol’s Smart Internet Lab managed to deliver the world’s first 5G music lesson, connecting musicians in London and Bristol to play together, thanks to the low latency capabilities of 5G.
In terms of next steps, the 5G Programme will focus on the impacts of the dissemination of knowledge and learning from the funded projects, as the wider 5G ecosystem in the UK continues to develop and demand for 5G technologies grow.
More information can be found in the 5G Programme Initial Evaluation Report
Case studies
West Midlands leading the way in 5G coverage
In the West Midlands, West Midlands 5G (WM5G) was established in 2019 by the 5GTT Programme. Its mission is to accelerate the deployment of 5G networks and to test, prove and scale new 5G services across the West Midlands.
The region has reaped the rewards of WM5G’s Infrastructure Acceleration programme and has been ranked highest in a 5G mobile coverage study by independent telecoms advisory company Umlaut.
The study analysed 5G coverage across the UK’s Combined Authority areas and placed the West Midlands first for 5G coverage, whilst Birmingham also ranked highest for 5G coverage among the top six cities.
Since its inception, WM5G has been working closely with mobile network operators (MNOs) and local authorities using a variety of innovative tools and approaches to accelerate the roll-out of 5G across the region:
Faster and cheaper rollout of 5G infrastructure:
- The West Midlands Combined Authority worked extensively with local authorities to break down barriers to deployment of 5G infrastructure, accelerating 5G roll out in the region.
- The project estimates that this could save £117.2m in the rollout of 5G across the whole of the UK.
- In some cases, the project found that the time to deploy infrastructure for some of its use cases was reduced by 6 months.
Efficient traffic management:
Some of the case studies being tested with 5G technology include managing traffic in an urban area:
- WM5G’s Road Sensor Network trial will install sensor cameras and IOT sensors across the key road networks in the region. These will form a network of monitoring capable of collecting, processing and sharing real-time traffic data, emissions and weather data.
- Access to this rich data source would improve the Local Authorities ability to manage traffic locally with existing control interactions. The Regional Traffic Coordination Centre would also benefit providing the ability to manage incidents and congestion across the region.
- WM5G estimates that this could lead to a 5% reduction in journey delays, as well as benefits from fuel savings, reduced accidents and lower emissions.
We’ll publish more on how they’ve done this in the near future.
5G public safety and tourism in Bath & Bristol
In the southwest, building on Bristol’s track record of Smart City work such as Bristol is Open, 5GTT has invested in 3 projects in the region using 5G: 5GUK Test Network, SmartTourism, and 5G Logistics.
5G has been tested through visitor and tourism trials in Millenium Square, The Roman Baths and at Bristol’s Harbour Festival using AR in smartphones and VR headsets.
Enhanced visitor experience using AR and VR:
- Project partners were able to increase the choice of material available on demand.
- Using 5G also reduced the costs and time of development and deployment of the software and improve video quality.
- 5G also increased the number of users who can enjoy AR experiences simultaneously from tens to hundreds, which is essential when deploying tourist experiences on a city scale.
Positive engagement through accessible sites, such as museums, helped users understand and engage with new 5G technology in a better way.
At these sites the project found that users benefited from demonstrations and support in order to get the most positive visitor experience from the new technology.
Logistics - better public safety and reducing congestion on motorways:
Other areas which showed promising results in Smart Tourism and are being explored further in 5G logistics include security and public safety, where:
- High-resolution camera footage and sensors can be combined to keep track of assets and detect when people are where they shouldn’t be (e.g. in the water, fences broken through).
- Through a 5G sensor network, another project, 5G Logistics, is exploring how to reduce congestion and pollution along a corridor to Motorways from the port.
5G Supporting Carers Combat Loneliness in Liverpool
In the Northwest, the Liverpool 5G Testbed looks to demonstrate the impact 5G technologies will have in providing better digital Health and Social Care services in deprived digitally excluded communities in the city.
The project which initially began in March 2018 has provided significant benefits for citizens and provided a number of lessons to pass on to local authorities when considering integrating 5G into public services.
5G cells on lamposts helps test new equipment and private networks:
- Using wireless 5G backhaul is a huge advantage as it avoids digging up roads in urban areas.
- Instead, the project installed small 5G cells on lamp posts to test the equipment and the private network. This has led to the creation of one of the biggest mesh networks in the world.
Reduced loneliness and social isolation:
- The project proved a reduction in loneliness in users of their Push to Talk device, this connects unpaid carers to chat to each other at the press of a button. This device has helped users to feel connected and less lonely.
- There are 8.8 million people who are unpaid carers in the U.K. Liverpool 5G offers an example of how technology like this could be used to help the reduction of loneliness in people feeling socially isolated.
Reduced GP and hospital visits, potentially saving costs:
- Another device deployed by the project was the medication support device (PAMAN) which saw improved medication adherence levels at 95% (this is 40% higher than national average of 55%).
- The project also saw an improvement in health outcomes, which led to a reduction of over 30% in the number of people who visited their GP and 16% drop in the average number of visits per user. This works out at potential cost saving per 100 users per year: £2,368.
Throughout the project, rigorous user testing and user feedback allowed the technology in this project to be developed earlier to suit user requirements. The use cases were very much tailored to the user needs.
Blog: How the Liverpool 5G Project helped bridge the health gap during Covid19
Further information
11 October 2019
Overview of 5G related initiatives led or supported by the central and local governments
This document provides an overview of the actions that the Central and Local governments are taking to help create the best conditions for the private sector to invest in developing and deploying 5G in the UK in a timely and efficient manner.
