EMR Health Alliance of BC

Huawei and TELUS to create 5G “Living Lab” in Downtown Vancouver

BC Premier Christy Clark visits Huawei headquarters in China to witness deal to help bring the world’s most advanced telecommunications technology to Vancouver

Oct 4, 2016

SHENZHEN, CHINA – Huawei, one of the world’s largest telecommunications and ICT suppliers, today announced a memorandum of understanding with TELUS, Canada’s fastest growing national telecommunications company, to establish a “5G Living Lab”. This innovative new project will test approaches to deliver a next-generation converged fibre-wireless network in downtown Vancouver. The announcement was made on the occasion of the visit of the Premier of British Columbia, Christy Clark, to Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen.

To support this ”Living Lab”, Huawei will be making a significant investment to design, test and deploy ground-breaking new technologies, leading towards the development of next-generation 5G based telecommunications networks.

This agreement follows TELUS’ recently announced $1-billion investment to expand its fibre optic network in Vancouver, which will ultimately provide the backbone to support highly efficient and lightning-fast wireless speeds as the development road maps for wireless and wireline networks converge around 5G concepts. Together, Huawei and TELUS are helping the City of Vancouver deliver upon its goal of becoming the worlds’ greenest city[1] by 2020 through providing network capacity and speed that will enable “smart city” and other sustainability-focused technology initiatives.

“TELUS is recognized globally as one of the world’s most advanced telecommunications operators” said Ken Hu, Co-CEO, Huawei. “The opportunity to partner with TELUS to deploy innovative new technologies is critical to our global 5G research and development process and positions TELUS on the leading edge of next-generation telecommunications technology deployment.”

“This project will bring some of the most cutting-edge telecommunications technology available today to Vancouver, building upon our recently announced billion dollar investment to introduce fibre optic technology and further reinforcing our commitment to the city,” said Eros Spadotto, Executive Vice President of Technology Strategy for TELUS. “Working with Huawei, our efforts will lay the groundwork for delivering a converged fibre-wireless network with the potential to deliver dramatically faster wireless speeds, thereby improving citizens’ lives and generating significant new social, educational and economic opportunities. In addition, it will help all levels of government to build a greener, more inclusive and globally competitive Vancouver.”

“There is a natural partnership between British Columbia and Shenzhen,” said Premier Clark. “We both host thriving tech and communications sectors, and are fortunate to work with companies like Huawei and Telus on investments to expand and upgrade ICT infrastructure with the latest technology.”

About Huawei

Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Huawei’s 177,000 employees worldwide are committed to bringing advanced communications technologies to operators, enterprises and consumers around the world. Huawei’s innovative ICT solutions, products and services have been deployed in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than one third of the world’s population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is fully owned by its employees, and was recently named again by Interbrand as one of the world’s top 100 brands – the first Chinese company to receive this recognition.

Huawei Canada has been in operation since 2008.  Huawei’s innovative wireless products and services support many of Canada’s leading telecommunications companies, and Huawei’s Canada Research Centre in Kanata, Ontario is a global leader in advanced communications technologies.  We are proud to be a key part of Canada’s ICT Ecosystem.

http://www.huawei.com/ca-en/about-huawei/newsroom/press-release/hw-460412.htm

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TELUS and Huawei make another leap forward on the road to 5G

http://about.telus.com/community/english/news_centre/news_releases/blog/2016/11/23/telus-and-huawei-make-another-leap-forward-on-the-road-to-5g

Huawei and TELUS announced the achievement of wireless speeds of 29.3 Gbps.

The results, 200 times the current LTE standard, were obtained during trials of 5G mobile technology at the TELUS and Huawei 5G Living Lab in Vancouver.

Solidifying the 5G base to meet the needs of IoT and intelligent devices, both companies were involved in trials since last year in a live, real-world setting.

TELUS customers in the Vancouver region will get early access to the newly emerging wireless technologies in the world, ahead of the 5G services, expected to be on air by 2020.

Also, a 4G LTE wireless site in Vancouver has also been upgraded with the latest advancement in LTE-Advanced Pro technologies with speeds of up to 1 Gbps, which is 10 times faster the current LTE-advanced speeds.

TELUS also added that five more similar sites will be upgraded in the coming weeks.

TELUS is planning to make the latest technologies available as early as next year with LTE-Advanced Pro compatible devices being available by then.

TELUS previously announced a $1 billion investment to connect Vancouver to the TELUS PureFibre network.

RELATED: TELUS to invest 1 bn in optic fiber network in Vancouver

This will provide a foundation to upcoming high speed wireless and wireline networks.

The PureFibre network will also provide enhanced capacity for wireless 5G speeds hiking TELUS fibre investments across Canada.

TELUS saw a revenue growth of 1.5 percent or $3.1-billion in the previous quarter.

TELUS also added that its wireless network revenue increased by 2.6 percent to $1.6 billion owing to subscriber growth, increased customer spending on mobile data and expensive monthly plans.

Also, the total capital expenditure in 2016 was raised by $200 million to $2.85 billion, owing to major investments in copper wire network upgradation to fibre-optic technology.

ALSO READ: TELUS enhances Network Investment in 2016

The Seventh Annual Mobile Broadband (MBB) Forum will be held in Tokyo, Japan on November 23 to 25, 2016, where both companies will discuss and present major developments in the area.

Bell Canada, a network partner of TELUS, also recently announced a successful 5G trial with Nokia for spectrum across the 73 GHz band.

In the meantime, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint have also announced similar efforts underway for developments in 5G.

Vina Krishnan
[email protected]

http://www.telecomlead.com/5g/telus-achieves-5g-speeds-29-3-gbps-huawei-71987

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Could the 5G Future Pose a Health Risk?

 NEWS ANALYSIS DAN JONES, 5/12/2016

Super-fast 5G wireless is still years away from widespread commercial service but researchers are already wondering if the new networks — which will feature many more radios than previous cellular architectures deployed very densely in towns and cities — could pose a health risk to the general public.

Massey University in New Zealand has announced this week that it got funding to investigate if there will be any adverse effects of electromagnetic radiation to human health caused by the next generation of telecommunication networks called 5G. The research will take place through 2017.

5G — Fifth Generation — wireless is expected to be tens or even hundreds of times faster than 4G, downloading a movie over the network in mere seconds. To achieve that speed — and provide exciting new applications on future networks — 5G will use higher frequencies and be deployed more densely than previous cellular networks, which have largely been determined to be safe for us puny humans, ever have before. (See 5G: What Is It & Why Does It Matter? and 5G: As Close as You’ll Get to a Jet Pack!.)

“With some industry giants predicting 50 billion connected devices by 2020 and with the employment of much higher transmission frequencies proposed for the 5G rollout, it is essential to determine how the future of telecommunications will affect the health of its users,” principal investigator Dr. Faraz Hasan says in the announcement.

Hasan is talking about centimeter and millimeter waves, which have previously only been used in very limited short-range fixed wireless and mobile backhaul applications. It is anticipated with the coming of 5G, frequencies like 15GHz, 28GHz, 39GHz and 60GHz could be put into widespread usage, and these short-range, high-speed signals would require thousands (maybe millions) more radios and antennas to be dotted round the cityscape. 4G networks today are typically built around low- and medium-band radio spectrum (600MHz to 2.5GHz in the US) and a backbone of cell towers with some distributed antennas and smaller radios to extend coverage. (See Sprint: We’re Building a 5G-Ready Network, Not a 4G Relic.)

Operators, researchers and vendors are now turning that model of deployment on its head with plans that will mix some large towers with many, many more small radios using higher frequencies than ever before. So, naturally, health concerns about incredibly dense radio network networks in urban environments are starting to bubble to the surface. (See Sprint’s Saw: ‘5G’ Opp Is Moving Signal Closer to Customers.)

There’s a further wrinkle to the 5G radios that it is not even clear from the announcement whether this research will grapple with or not. The FCC, for instance, keeps very tight limits on the antenna power limits allowed for different fixed and mobile applications. Carriers in the US, however, are starting to ask the agency if they can increase the amount of Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) — that’s peak antenna gain — used for millimetre wave applications.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) said this in a filing to the FCC in January this year.‘Conventional’ base station antenna gains for other mobile uses typically have gains in the 9–25dBi range because they are limited by practical antenna size. In mmW bands, however, gains from 20–45 dBi can be achieved depending upon beamwidths desired.A base station power limit of between 68 and 75 dBm EIRP is thus more appropriate for these higher frequency bands than the 62 dBm EIRP maximum proposed based on the properties of other spectrum.

So there you go, gentle reader, we don’t think you’ll be accidentally sterilized by the super-high power radio waves of the 5G future but we don’t yet fully know what effect incredibly dense mmWave radio networks pumping out really hot signals might have!

Maybe don’t throw out that tin foil hat just yet.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading

http://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/could-the-5g-future-pose-a-health-risk-/d/d-id/723324

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The FCC is moving quickly to make good on its promise to ease small-cell deployments.

Wireless carriers are increasingly looking to small cells and distributed antenna systems to increase both coverage and capacity as data consumption ramps up and as they prepare for the emergence of 5G. But rollouts have been slowed as municipalities, property owners and local organizations struggle to develop policies to manage them.

Montgomery County, Maryland, has around 200 pending applications for small-cell installations, Inside Towers recently reported, for example. And a request by Mobilitie for relief from “excessive charges” for access to public rights-of-way resulted in nearly 130 comments to the FCC.

The FCC hopes to help address those problems to make it easier and less expensive to deploy the smaller transmitters. The FCC finalized rules in August aimed at addressing siting concerns in a move cheered by players across the industry, but CTIA and others claim adoption of the proposals in the Small Cell Public Notice will streamline local processes.

During its next open meeting, which is slated for April 20, the agency will vote on launching an examination of the “regulatory impediments” that are weighing down small cells and other kinds of infrastructure.

“The wireless networks of the future will look very different,” Chairman Ajit Pai wrote this week in a blog post. “Instead of tall towers you can see from a mile away, there will be small cells – wireless access points you might not even see and/or could hold in your hands. With this ‘densification’ of so-called 5G networks, we’ll need to deploy millions of small cells in order to realize the promise of multi-gigabit connectivity through millimeter-wave technology.”

Among other things, Pai is looking to seek comment on how local, state and FCC rules and processes affect the speed and cost of network deployments, and solicit ideas for improving network reviews. The FCC also is considering what kind of time limits should apply to local review processes, as well as a proposal to “deem granted” applications, essentially green-lighting applications after an “unreasonable delay.”

Wireless carriers for months have urged the FCC to get involved to help ease small cell deployments. A top CTIA executive met with FCC officials last week to continue to push for streamlined policies for deploying small cells.

“CTIA encouraged the Commission to adopt the proposals in its recently-released Small Cell Public Notice that would streamline local review of wireless infrastructure applications, clarify actions that prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting wireless service, and ensure that compensation for use of public rights of way is cost-based, fair, and reasonable,” the trade association said in an FCC filing.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/fcc-to-consider-easing-small-cell-deployments-at-next-month-s-meeting

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Telus Partners with Huawei to Make Progress Towards 5G Wireless Networks

www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/telus-partners-with-huawei-to-make-progress-towards-5g-wireless-networks/

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To keep Canadians connected, carriers are going ‘small’

By Daniel Bader   JAN 19, 2016

The next big thing in connectivity is elusively, almost comically, small. As cities get denser, and its citizens’ wireless needs more explicit, carriers are looking to new technologies as ways to fill in the coverage gaps left by mounting large antennas on increasingly crowded rooftops, or towers whose signals can’t quite reach every device it promises.

Dubbed “small cells”, these diminutive boxes are often installed on the street level — on light fixtures, or utility polls — or even in peoples’ homes, as ways of boosting cellular signals indoors or in dense urban areas. With a range of between a few metres to up to several kilometres, the category itself is a vibrant ecosystem of suppliers and distributors working with carriers to improve their coverage as demand for wireless data burdens existing “macro” cell infrastructure.

Most Canadians don’t care how they connect to their carrier’s wireless network, as long as the signal is strong and the performance vibrant. In large cities such as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, density, both in terms of people and the signal-reflecting nature of tall buildings, has forced carriers to pursue a small cell strategy that, in 2016, will likely double in deployment from a year ago, according to a tower executive familiar with Canadian carriers’ plans.

Earlier in the month, SaskTel announced that it deployed Huawei’s Lampsite technology, a variation on existing small cell products, in two buildings at the University of Regina. Scott Bradley, Huawei Canada’s VP of corporate and government affairs, said the university had been looking to shore up its wireless coverage inside the thick concrete monoliths that comprise much of the campus.

Under the supervision of SaskTel engineers, the university’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences oversaw the first Canadian deployment of Lampsite, a variation of small cell technology that creates a Heterogeneous Network, or HetNet, within its service area.

Now in its second generation, Lampsite generates three signals — WiFi, 3G (HSPA+) and LTE — and “offers” devices the best one seamlessly depending on a number of factors. When deployed inside a building, a single box can connect to a carrier’s network through a provisioned ethernet cable, or by picking up a weak signal from a remote tower and amplifying it.

“Lampsite is part of the evolution towards 5G,” said Bradley, whose company is pushing to be the primary hardware provider to Canadian carriers for the next-generation wireless standard. The idea is that under 5G, devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables and other connected products will be able to simultaneously send and receive data from a number of sources; effectively, the distinction between WiFi and cellular will be eliminated.

In the meantime, small cell deployments will be increasingly common in densely-populated cities as data needs proliferate. In the U.S. and Canada, locations such as sports stadiums and school arenas are already well set up for small cell offloading. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index report, released last February, by the end of 2016 over half of all worldwide mobile traffic will be offloaded to a WiFi network or cellular equivalent, known as a femtocell.

In 2015, Telus reportedly deployed around 2,000 small cells in Vancouver and Calgary, a number that eclipses that of Rogers and Bell. While no carrier has shared official numbers of small cell deployments, Telus has reportedly been able to reduce deployment costs because it co-owns with BC Hydro a number of utility poles that are classified for cellular equipment use. Bell and Rogers deployed around 400 and 50 respectively, but every major Canadian carrier has yet to see costs of small cell equipment drop low enough compared to their relative coverage area to match the economies of scale of so-called macro towers, which cover much of Canada with 3G and 4G LTE signal.

One Canadian company, however, may single-handedly make small cells mainstream across the country — or at least in the western half of the country.  Shaw Communications, which in 2011 reversed course on its decision to deploy a cellular network after spending $189.5 million in 2008’s AWS spectrum auction, currently operates some 75,000 WiFi hotspots across Western Canada and parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and western Ontario. While Shaw has yet to comment on its plans for Wind Mobile (Freedom Mobile), which it is purchasing for $1.6 billion, one obvious measure to shore up signal is to augment its existing WiFi infrastructure with a network of small cells broadcasting what will inevitably be high-speed LTE through those existing nodes. Shaw expects to spend $250 million throughout this year and into 2017 to improve Wind’s network, eventually rolling out a robust LTE network once handsets are available that support the just-ratified AWS-3 standard.

Ultimately, small cells are useful to prevent waste in deployments of high-frequency spectrum on which many Canadian carriers have spent millions of dollars accruing. Whereas 700Mhz spectrum already exists to penetrate thick walls and travel longer distances, high-frequency spectrum like AWS and 2500Mhz can carry more data at higher speeds. Coupled with small cells, carriers can more easily fill in dead zones that, in large cities awash in glinting spires of modern capitalism, pose challenges for the engineers tasked with ensuring fast, ubiquitous connectivity.

http://mobilesyrup.com/2016/01/19/to-keep-canadians-connected-carriers-are-going-small/

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Canadian Carriers Turn to Small Cell Technology to Fill Urban Connectivity Gaps

by Jeff Wiener on JANUARY 22, 2016

Strangely enough while Canadian carriers continue to struggle to fill the connectivity gaps throughout sparsely populate rural areas of the country; they are at the same time struggling to patch the network holes in densely populated urban centres as well. The problem with the latter has always been that in dense cities wireless signals struggle to flow freely through the concrete jungle, meaning certain users may be hard-pressed to find wireless connectivity in their homes or offices, or even in certain parts of their homes or offices.

In an effort to fill such dead zones in network coverage, giving everyone the best wireless experience possible, Canadian carriers are turning to a solution we’ve seen bandied about for several years now: small cell technology. By installing these diminutive, short-range devices as strategic points throughout densely populated urban centres, carriers will be able to better establish comprehensive coverage, as the cells will work in conjunction (sometimes even replacing) with the larger, “macro” cell tower infrastructure that we commonly associate with wireless networks.

While all major Canadian carriers do utilize small cell technology already, look for 2016 to be the year where this technology comes to the fore, as carriers look for ways of providing the ubiquitous technology our increasingly connected everything existence demands.

Now I would argue that for the more part Canadians don’t care about the technology used to create reliable and accessible network coverage, they just want to know that when they need to connect, the connection is strong and fast. But as I said, the problems in Canada are that carriers either have to foot the bill for providing network coverage over expansive and sparsely populated rural communities, or they have to find ways of penetrating the alternatively dense concrete jungle of the country’s huge metropolitan centres. It is the latter where small cells will likely play a growing role this coming year.

As mentioned, small cells work both to bolster and bandage nationwide 3G/4G/LTE networks, increasing network coverage in areas were traditional coverage has been weak, working alongside traditional cell towers, even replacing them when required. With a range between a few metres and a few kilometres, by installing small cells in key locations, such as buildings, lamp posts, or busy outdoor spaces like parks, Canadian carriers will be able to broaden their blanket coverage, allowing their respective networks to handle more devices at once, thus allowing more people to connect to wireless networks using smartphones, tablets, and other wireless technology.

While not a new technology per se—and one rife with unresolved security concerns—small cells are one key piece to the spectrum puzzle, as carriers look for ways to expand their network coverage and better utilize the bandwidth they have available.

According to reports, in 2015 Telus deployed more than 2000 small cells around Vancouver and Calgary, surpassing Rogers and Bell estimates of around 500 cells respectively. While no carrier has officially acknowledged their small cell deployment numbers, they do seem to be on the rise, if for no other reason than newly arrived competitor Shaw—who recently completed its takeover of WIND Mobile, after which the entire company was purchased by the Corus Entertainment group—already has extensive Wi-Fi hotspot infrastructure in place, at least in Western Canada, which could easily be redeployed as small cell network support to help differentiate the company from its incumbent competitors.

All that to say, there’s no question that small cells are useful for carriers to effectively utilize their spectrum resources, allowing those carriers to close connectivity gaps in dense urban jungles, and it seems that 2016 will only see further growth of this technology, particularly as part of the groundwork for forthcoming 5G wireless technology and the growing Internet of Things.

https://www.thetelecomblog.com/2016/01/22/canadian-carriers-turn-to-small-cell-technology-to-fill-urban-connectivity-gaps/

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AT&T AirGig 

Testing for AT&T’s new concept of small cells said to be in Austin and Indianapolis in mid 2017

“This week AT&T disclosed plans to field trial a novel approach to achieving multi-Gbps wireless transmission and last mile delivery. Branded AirGig, the system utilizes the transverse magnetic (TM) mode as a surface wave propagating along power lines. The surface wave can be launched onto the existing power grid, exhibits low loss, and supports millimeter wave transmission, so it can carry multi-Gbps data rates. Propagation occurs with both overhead and buried power lines.” http://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/27175-att-announces-airgig-wireless-broadband-communications-concept

“More than 10 years ago, some AT&T Labs engineers worked on earlier experiments to deliver BPL (broadband over power lines). Back then, broadband merely meant megabit speeds. The technology worked well, but couldn’t keep up with the move to higher speeds.

“So, our engineers shifted their focus from BPL to millimeter wave (mmWave)technology and became curious about combining mmWave and powerlines. No one in the industry had connected these technologies together yet.”

http://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/27821-att-plans-field-trials-of-project-airgig

AT&T AirGig – Millimetre Waves on power lines

Sept 2017

AT&T’s project AirGig, where 5G millimeter wave Internet signals are carried along power lines, is in the test phases right now.  If AT&T launches this, it means that if you work or live anywhere near a power line integrated with AT&T 5G, you will be exposed to the 5G mm wave radiation constantly.  So it‘s not just the 5G small cells placed every few houses apart that would be radiating the mm wave radiation, but the entire power line!!!  READ MORE >>

http://whatis5g.info/5g/2017/09/att-airgig-5g/

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AT&T sheds light on its 5G strategy

Kevin Tran May 19 2017

“AT&T’s updates come as the wireless industry races to be the first to deploy 5G networks in the US. Verizon, the leading US mobile operator, recently outbid AT&T to acquire Straight Path Communications, which could provide Verizon’s foundation for a 5G network. Additionally, T-Mobile recently purchased a large swath of low-band spectrum during the spectrum auction, which it intends to deploy 5G on. Telecoms will continue to push the envelope in terms of 5G developments as they vie for a first-mover advantage.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/att-sheds-light-on-its-5g-strategy-2017-5

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Why China is set to spend US$411 billion on 5G mobile networks

Monday, 19 June, 2017

http://www.scmp.com/tech/china-tech/article/2098948/china-plans-28-trillion-yuan-capital-expenditure-create-worlds

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AT&T starts upgrading wireless networks to 5G

By Dmitry Rashnitsov   |   Feb. 12, 2016 at 9:49 AM

DALLAS, Feb. 12 (UPI) — AT&T said Friday it intends to start testing next-generation 5G technology next month with faster speeds coming first to Austin, Texas.

The company unveiled plans to upgrade its wireless systems to the faster technology by the end of 2018, saying it expects to provide its current 46 million subscriber base with 10 to 100 times faster data and web connections.

“New experiences like virtual reality, self-driving cars, robotics, smart cities and more are about to test networks like never before,” said John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president of AT&T Technology and Operations. “These technologies will be immersive, pervasive and responsive to customers. 5G will help make them a reality. 5G will reach its full potential because we will build it on a software-centric architecture that can adapt quickly to new demands and give customers more control of their network services.”

Testing of the 5G systems is expected to take about a year to debug, with another year planned for getting hardware in place across the United States and switching customers over to the updated spectrums.

AT&T says consumers will see the biggest change in how download and upload speeds are measured. They are are currently calculated in megabits, but after the switch they will be conveyed in gigabits. The company says that at 1 gigabit per second, customers can download a 30-minute TV program in less than 3 seconds.

AT&T will work with fellow technology companies Ericsson and Intel to start rolling out trial runs of the new hardware and software in the next few months.

AT&T is the second-largest wireless and data provider in the United States. It’s main competitor, Verizon Wireless, in December announced a similar rollout of its 5G competitor technology.

 https://www.upi.com/Business_News/2016/02/12/ATT-starts-upgrading-wireless-networks-to-5G/5851455282496/

University of Manchester

Three Universities to develop £16m 5G test network

New network will link universities to test cutting-edge 5G technology

Published 6 July 2017

First step in plan to make UK a leader in sector which could add up to £173bn to the economy

Includes plans to deliver end-to-end 5G trial in early 2018

A world-class 5G technology test network will aim to put Britain at the forefront of the next wave of mobile technology – potentially adding up to £173 billion to the economy by 2030.

Experts from leading 5G research institutions at King’s College London and the Universities of Surrey and Bristol, will be awarded £16m to develop the cutting-edge 5G test network which will see academic expertise and commercial leadership brought together to trial the technology and make sure people and businesses can enjoy the benefits sooner.

5G is expected to deliver reliable ultrafast mobile connectivity with the ability to process huge amounts of data and support complex applications predicted for tomorrow’s mobile phones – for example, sending virtual reality 3D TV clips to mobile devices.

It could also be used in new technologies that have the potential to revolutionise society such as autonomous vehicles – for example, to make sure they can be used safely on our roads – or in advanced manufacturing and robotics, augmented reality, remote surgery, smart agriculture and in smart homes and cities.

Minister for Digital Matt Hancock said:
We want to be at the head of the field in 5G. This funding will support the pioneering research needed to ensure we can harness the potential of this technology to spark innovation, create new jobs and boost the economy.

We know 5G has the potential to bring more reliable, ultrafast mobile connectivity, with quicker reaction times and larger data capabilities, and I’m thrilled to announce King’s College London and the universities of Surrey and Bristol have agreed to collaborate on this project.

This test network will trial and demonstrate the next generation of mobile technology and is the first part of a four-year programme of investment and collaboration in the Government’s new 5G Testbeds and Trials programme.

The universities will work together to create three small-scale mobile networks which together will form the test network. Each network will have a number of the elements expected in a commercial 5G network – including mobile signal receivers and transmitters and the technology to handle 5G signals – to support trials of its many potential uses.

The project will build on existing research and help to make the case for timely deployment of 5G in the UK. It will help make sure the country is ready to capitalise on a potentially huge global market for 5G products and services and create opportunities for British business to grow at home and abroad. It will also mark the first steps towards developing a new national 5G Innovation Network.

This investment is also aiming to deliver a 5G end-to-end trial in early 2018. This could be, for example, a trial in which a signal is sent from a mobile device, such as a phone or in a car, to a data centre and back again. This will test the capability of 5G to make an application or service work in a real-world environment.

Surrey, Bristol and King’s are internationally renowned for their work on 5G and specialise in different aspects of the technology. The project will combine their strengths.

Rahim Tafazolli, University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre director, is the project lead and will be working with Dimitra Simeonidou from the University of Bristol and Mischa Dohler from King’s College London to deliver the project. He said:

The University of Surrey’s 5GIC, University of Bristol and King’s College London are delighted to be delivering this initial project as part of the Government’s new 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme. This investment will ensure that the UK continues to be world-class in 5G innovation and development through to commercial exploitation.

This exciting programme builds on significant investment and a strong foundation of 5G research and development across the three institutions. The programme will maintain and extend the UK’s leadership position in the race to transform many aspects of everyday life and business through digital transformation.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Jones MP, said:
Ensuring Britain remains at the forefront of digital innovation is a priority for this government.

We are investing £740 million from the National Productivity Investment Fund to boost the country’s digital infrastructure, and today’s announcement will help provide people and businesses with the next generation of connections.

A better connected Britain will make us a more productive country and improve living standards.

Other academic institutions, industry and local authorities will also be able to bid for further funding to be part of this programme from 2018/19 onwards. Further details on opportunities and the funding available will be published later this year.

A new centre of 5G expertise has also been created in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to drive forward this work.

At Autumn Statement 2016, the Government first announced its intention to invest in a nationally coordinated programme of 5G Testbeds & Trials, as part of a £1bn package of announcements made to boost the UK’s digital infrastructure.

Of this funding, £740m from the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF), will spent on two new programmes: the Local Full Fibre Networks Programme and a new programme of coordinated 5G testbeds and trials. These programmes will help to de liver next generation mobile services and full-fibre broadband networks.

The Government’s 5G Strategy set out the first steps to make the UK a world leader in the mobile technology and included a pledge to develop a 5G testing facility.

The aim of the 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme is to make the UK an attractive place to test 5G applications and services, helping to ensure the UK secures an ‘early mover advantage’ in the development of new 5G applications and services and to support the timely deployment of 5G networks.

5G’s full economic impact is difficult to predict at this early stage but there is emerging consensus that one of the main benefits will be in enabling new applications in a number of different sectors.

For example, the GSMA estimates that the contribution of mobile to the global economy will be worth USD$3.9 trillion in 2020, of which over 75% will be benefits to the wider economy that are enabled by mobile.

Other recent reports have illustrated the potential gains from 5G. In particular: the Future Connectivity Challenge Group report suggests that UK leadership in 5G could result in the opportunity to create £173 billion of incremental UK GDP growth over a ten year period from 2020 to 2030; and

IHS Economics / IHS Technology estimated by modelling industry investment and impacts on total factor productivity from expected use cases that 5G will enable USD$12.3 trillion of global economic output in 2035.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/three-universities-to-develop-16m-5g-test-network

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