The project will enable deeper collaboration between the UK industry and the Republic of Korea, recognised leaders in wireless infrastructure and aims to enhance the sharing of knowledge and best practices to push Open RAN deployment.
Andy Conway, director of solutions and innovation at BAI Communications UK said: “Innovation is at the heart of what we do.
“We have a long history of collaborating with key partners in the Republic of Korea, which is recognised as a leader in next generation communications technology.
“The grant-funded project will allow this consortium of leading experts to take collaboration to the next level in order to further develop global Open RAN capability, helping to accelerate sustainability efforts as well as digital connectivity.”
It is the first international project to be announced as part of The Open Networks R&D Fund – a £250 million government supported programme to deliver the UK’s 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy.
The scheme will develop a next-generation Digital Antenna System (DAS) using state-of-the-art technologies developed by the University of Surrey.
The consortium is led by AWTG Ltd with BAI, Lime Communications, the University of Surrey and Virgin Media O2, working in partnership with a consortium in South Korea, led by SOLiD Labs.
BAI will provide insight and guidance as a trusted Neutral Host advisor, including practical deployment approaches and business use cases to drive the integration of Open RAN and enhance connectivity performance.
