

Submitted by s.parker on July 23, 2017
A 5G ‘national asset’ for the UK will be the main result of a three univeristy hub partnership with testing and trialing starting in 2018.
The UK government is making a £16m investment in a new 5G Hub partnership which will link the test beds of three leading UK universities: Bristol, Surrey and Kings College London. The programme will develop the first trials of end-to-end 5G by linking up the universities and their respective 5G specialities with a high performance network.
Bristol University:
- Bristol will deploy Smart City 5G capabilities, taking advantage of its extensive Smart City and Smart Campus test beds.
- Bristol, which has made a name for itself in ‘smart city’ trials and research, is to showcase full 5G and fibre infrastructure convergence.
- Bristol will also contribute to the key Software Defined Network technologies for end-to-end 5G service delivery. Public demonstrators will be the focus of delivery - targeting media, gaming and transport applications.
King’s College London:
- is working on ultra-low latency 5G tactile internet developments with ‘Internet of Skills’ applications.
- Through the King’s College London 5G Tactile Internet Lab, the university is also pioneering several important 5G co-design approaches with various industries, including smart cities, smart transport, performing arts and health.
The University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) will:
- lead the project and develop 5G radio technologies and a fully virtualised mobile core network at 3.5GHz and 700 MHz frequency bands for enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC).
The 5G Hub will use a federated model of working between the three Universities but will be ready for expansion to include other organisations from 2018 onwards.