The 5G Innovation Region (5GIR) programme has seen 10 regions throughout the UK receive a share of £36m of funding as part of our wider programme to drive 5G adoption. Focusing on key sectors with local capability and opportunities, the projects aim to enable the UK to take full advantage of the transformative effect that advanced wireless connectivity and digital technologies can provide.
To help ensure that all regions can benefit from the work being done by the 5G Innovation Regions, UKTIN has invited the projects to present at our Clusters forum. Most recently, Craig Bower – Digital Infrastructure Programme Director at Oxfordshire County Council – provided his insights.
Please tell us about your 5GIR project.
England’s Connected Heartland (ECH) is the name of our 5G Innovation Region. Oxfordshire County Council is the project coordinator, however, ECH is a partnership of nine councils working together in the heartland region. It encompasses Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Central Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. Together we’re uncovering the benefits advanced wireless connectivity can bring.
Why is this 5GIR project needed?
To release untapped economic, social and environmental benefits. These projects will raise awareness and generate demand for 5G in the regionally significant rail and advanced manufacturing sectors. 5G can be transformational for these industries – and these projects will provide a chance to showcase the benefits and commercial viability of investing in advanced wireless infrastructure.
Our 5G Rail project will build a 5G Stand Alone (SA) Mobile Private Network (MPN) along sections of the line of East West Rail between Bicester and Bletchley with limited or poor mobile connectivity. This will offer up to 700Mbs bandwidth to the train using a shared access spectrum. We’re working with the train operating company, Network Rail Telecoms and Icomera. While our solution is not a blanket solution for every railway in the UK, it’s a chance to solve the longstanding issue of poor passenger connectivity.
The solution we’ve planned has a unique twist: we want the network to benefit local trackside neighbours along the route – such as farmers using the network for agri-tech applications, and remote businesses and homes who may be in rural not-spots.
Network Rail should be able to utilise the connectivity for their operational requirements by using IoT devices onboard. The IoT devices offload data which can support efficiency and safety. Early deliverables will enable CCTV to be live streamed from the train and point-of-sale equipment on the train to operate properly, with other operational data transfer made possible subject to Network Rail policy.
The antennas point to the track and the hinterland. This is key to making the solution financially viable over the long term; the more stacked use cases can be realised, the stronger the business case for the 5G network becomes. The mobile infrastructure will make use of existing GSMR masts wherever possible and backhaul is economically provisioned by 432 fibre previously invested in by councils in the region.
Our 5G Science Campuses project starts with a new 5G SA MPN at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. It will open up significant opportunities for advanced manufacturing firms, research and development establishments, and wider campus operations. Benefits will include asset tracking, security, parking management, robotics, autonomous bus/vehicle connectivity and more. Businesses have defined requirements for resilient internet connectivity, assembly line IoT devices, asset tracking and the many other use cases being explored.
Both projects are designed to be replicable across the ECH region and more widely across the UK. We will continue to develop the commercial models, document requirements and use cases, and enable shared learning with other DSIT 5GIRs ensuring good knowledge transfer.
We also want telcos, neutral host providers, businesses, and the government to join a free, purpose-built community to build the advanced wireless connectivity market and learn from us on our journey. The programme will connect these stakeholders and provide advice, guidance and funding opportunities so that telecoms and infrastructure providers can work with businesses more efficiently and effectively. It is a novel approach, our “Innovation Exchange.” We encourage those interested to find out more.
What progress have you made?
At Harwell, we’ve developed the commercial model to include individual services contracts and landlord contracts with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Advanced Research Clusters (ARC). The 5G SA MPN provision will provide outdoor and indoor coverage using the N77 shared access spectrum. We plan to fund the first twelve months of the connectivity and then make it chargeable, so businesses at the campus can explore the benefits of 5G before investing in the network. Following a competitive procurement, we are close to contract signing and the build is expected to get underway in early December. A lot of work has already been done to minimise the amount of new infrastructure required with the use of building rooftops and existing onsite fibre for front and backhaul networks.
We have completed our procurement for the rail project and are finalising the contract with the successful bidder. Meanwhile, we have surveyed the existing MNO coverage to define where the 5G masts/antenna will be best deployed. We have worked extensively in the background with Network Rail to facilitate access and use of fibre and mast assets and engaged with Chiltern Rail and their Wi-Fi partner Icomera to establish how the 5G access will be integrated. We have also worked with wireless service providers to set up a wholesale model for trackside neighbours’ access to the network. We have worked with the National Farmers’ Union and individual farmers to establish demand for the connectivity service. We anticipate mobilising into delivery before the end of November.
What have you learned so far?
For the Rail project, we’ve uncovered various challenges posed by the commercial, technical, and operational aspects of improving train passenger connectivity. How do we monetise the network? How do we reduce the amount of public subsidy required? How do we minimise infrastructure within the rail ‘red zone’ for ease of installation and maintenance? Reliable connectivity on a train is possible with masses of mobile network infrastructure but it is not sustainable. The Mobile Network Operators have no business case to stand up. Therefore, our approach is designed as a stacked use-case model – offering benefits to other potential customers, and creating more revenue streams so that the solution can succeed commercially.
For Harwell, we have uncovered clear use cases and latent demand for campus-wide fast wireless connectivity. This is very much a ‘build it and they will come’ venture which we believe will demonstrate how this type of science campus might be equipped with 5G services without any external intervention. We’ve received incredible support and enthusiasm for what we’re doing. All the companies we’ve engaged with are already looking to future-proof their operations and innovate, and 5G is key to this. Once the benefits begin to be realised, we anticipate that the appetite for these networks will rapidly grow.
We’re also proud of the regional partnership with several large local authorities we pulled together for the DSIT programme. This is increasingly opening up further opportunities for collaboration at scale around common digital infrastructure opportunities common to this region.
Head to the ECH website to learn more, and find out more about the UKTIN Clusters Group here.
