The project, called 5G New Thinking, will be run in partnership with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and with community and civic partners in the Orkney Islands, Borderlands and Northern Ireland.
It brings together a range of partners to develop the tools, processes and business models to enable rural and poorly connected communities to rapidly establish 5G connectivity.
“Our findings with 5G RuralFirst revealed that over a 10 year period, the UK’s rural economy could grow by an additional £17 billion if good quality 5G services were accessible,” said David Meads, chief executive, Cisco UK and Ireland.
“We believe that by taking advantage of neutral hosting technologies, fixed wireless access and spectrum sharing, we will be able to allow third parties – including local businesses and communities – to build and own radio infrastructure, as well as work with MNOs to reduce costs and make rural coverage commercially sustainable.”
In 2019, Ofcom changed its policy on spectrum sharing to develop a more open and accessible spectrum market. It has moved away from relying solely on mobile network operators (MNOs) to purchase exclusive licences for access to spectrum.
Now there are opportunities for new entrants to access and develop rural connectivity by reducing the cost of access to high-quality spectrum in regional areas.
5G New Thinking will develop a practical how-to guide for rural communities looking to capitalise on this opportunity and invest in local connectivity.
All of this is built on the learnings from trials undertaken as part of 5G RuralFirst, a Cisco-led DCMS 5G Trials and Testbed programme phase one project.
"We are making sure the UK's rural communities aren’t left behind in the digital age and are investing record amounts to improve connectivity in the least connected parts of the country," said Matt Warman, minister for digital infrastructure.
"5G New Thinking is part of our £30 million programme to help the countryside capitalise on new ways of using next generation 5G technology and I look forward to seeing how rural communities will benefit."
The project is expected to go live at some point this year 2020 and to complete in 2022.
