Let’s be FRANC, the UK wants to be a 5G OpenRAN pioneer

The UK Government has launched a £30 million scheme to cement the country’s leadership in developing the next generation of 5G networks.

FRANC (Future RAN Competition) will help to fund innovative R&D projects across the UK to help speed up the adoption of OpenRAN (Open Radio Access Network) technology. Projects vying to claim a share of the funding are encouraged to make proposals that will help to fast-track viable solutions and encourage further business and government...

2 July 2021 | Legislation & Government

Eight 5G solution providers join Ofcom and Digital Catapult-led OpenRAN initiative

Eight 5G solution providers have joined an OpenRAN initiative led by UK telecoms regulator Ofcom and innovation centre Digital Catapult called SONIC.

The vendor-neutral and interoperable equipment OpenRAN delivers is seen as being the solution to disrupting the perceived monopoly held by the large telecoms vendors—helping to drive innovation, improve security, offer flexibility, and reduce deployment costs.

SONIC (SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre) is a...

25 February 2021 | Legislation & Government