According to plans for a new government-funded organization dedicated to boosting innovation in the country’s telecoms supply chain, the UK will be a world leader in telecoms research and development.
The UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN) will serve as a resource for telecoms companies seeking funding or testing facilities for R&D, as well as opportunities to collaborate on the development of new and improved technologies for UK mobile and broadband networks.
The government has today launched a competition for organizations to apply for up to £10 million to establish and run the center, which will assist innovators in scaling up, developing their products, gaining better access to telecoms markets, and driving exports abroad at the right time.
This appears to come as newly established data from ThinkBroadband shows that two-thirds of UK homes and businesses (66.75 percent) now have access to super-fast gigabit broadband. This is a significant increase from 2019, when coverage was only 6%, and demonstrates rapid progress in the government’s plan to accelerate the rollout of better broadband and level the playing field for communities with faster internet speeds.
The UKTIN will be run by a consortium of telecoms-experienced organizations and will promote knowledge sharing and collaboration on open and interoperable network technologies such as Open RAN, which allows telecoms companies to mix and match telecoms equipment rather than relying on a single supplier when building or maintaining networks.
The technology is regarded as critical to the government’s £250 million strategy to lower barriers for firms seeking to enter the UK telecoms supply chain, which will increase competition, improve product and service quality, and reduce the UK’s current reliance on a small number of international suppliers.
Julia Lopez, Minister of Digital Infrastructure, stated:
The UK Telecoms Innovation Network will be the first point of contact for any telecoms company seeking R&D funding, as well as a matchmaker for companies looking to collaborate on cutting-edge projects.
Ultimately, this is about making the UK the best place in the world for rapid and seamless new technology development for the digital networks that will power our economy well into the twenty-first century.
The technology is viewed as critical to the government’s £250 million strategy to lower barriers for firms seeking to enter the UK telecoms supply chain, increasing competition, improving product and service quality, and reducing the UK’s current reliance on a small number of international suppliers.
Minister of Digital Infrastructure Julia Lopez stated:
The UK Telecoms Innovation Network will serve as a first point of contact for any telecoms company looking for R&D funding, as well as a matchmaker for companies looking to collaborate on cutting-edge projects.
Finally, making the UK the best place in the world for rapid and seamless new technology development for the digital networks that will power our economy well into the twenty-first century is the goal.
