In its view, the 5G ecosystem has the potential to transform communications in the country, far beyond mobile phones.
With enhanced mobile broadband connections and considerably faster speeds, it is looking at 5G for ultra-reliable networks with incredibly low latency, so people and things can link up like never before.
Good digital infrastructure is therefore, a building block of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy, Digital Strategy, and 5G Strategy.
This article presents how the UK Government prepares it.
The core objective is to work with industry to support 5G use cases
An action plan to support the strategies has been laid out with a 5G Testbed and Trials Program.
The Program will stimulate Trials from many different future 5G users,
learning lessons and driving productivity to helping to create the 5G
ecosystem.
These Trials are focused on connected transport, construction and areas such as medical support for paramedics.
The government in August 2018 also initiated a 5G Trans-Pennine smart railways project, aimed at utilising the potential of 5G for smart transport applications on the rail network.
A similar strategy for 5G in the EU has also been planned, calling for 5G speeds in schools, universities, transport hubs, hospitals, urban areas, major roads and railways by 2025.
Only £150 Millions invested by the UK Government since 2016
The Universities first movers
In early 2016 the 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey, set up a Testbed to trial new technologies that would allow for high capacity, low latency, and energy efficiency within the 5G network.
Two years later, a £16 million 5G Testbed was set up between King’s College, London, and the Universities of Surrey and Bristol to trial applications and user experiences.
The SMEs followed with £25 million funded by the government for six separate projects
· 5G RuralFirst (£4.3 million): Assessing 5G applications in rural settings. Cisco and the University of Strathclyde as principals.
· 5G Smart Tourism (£5 million): Assessing 5G uses in tourism.
· Worcestershire 5G Consortium (£4.8 million): Partnered by Worcestershire County Council, 5GIC, AWTG, Huawei, O2, BT and Malvern Hills Science Park, it is focused on robotics, big data, analytics and augmented reality.
· Liverpool 5G Testbed (£3.5 million): Focused on economically disadvantaged areas and the health sector.
· AutoAir (£4.1 million): Focused on connected and autonomous vehicles.
· 5G Rural Integrated Testbed (5GRIT) (£2.1 million): Focused on rural applications and agriculture.
In September 2018 a further £50 million was provided to develop a 5G Testbed in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton.
Half of this funding was from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport with the remainder from private investment.
The government is also considering injecting an additional £25 million at a later stage.
The number of 5G new entrants may be stimulated by the Ofcom plan
The UK telecoms regulator has proposed to open mid-brand spectrum to open networks for campus or industrial use. This has also been done in other countries including Germany
The idea is to reduce entry barriers in the future and encourage new 5G projects development.
The UK was one of the first European countries to sell licenses for 5G services. Ofcom has already raised £1.4 billion by selling 3.4-3.6GHz bands 5G spectrum licenses.
Auction for the 3.6-3.8GHz band will be organised next year.
The National Cyber Security Center considers the Huawei risk as manageable
In the midst of the developments, security has always remained a critical consideration in the adoption of 5G in the UK.
Since 2010 the UK has run a cybersecurity watchdog — National Cyber Security Center.
Following the International concerns, they monitor Huawei’s operations, products and code. Partly a response to the government concerns, the Chinese company pledged to invest $2 billion through to 2024 to improve its software and security processes.
But despite the watchdog’s May 2019 report being critical of Huawei’s cyber security development, the National Security Council approved its involvement in ‘non-core’ parts of the 5G build — the distinction between ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ is fluid.
Huawei Lobby vs Brexit and Trump Pressure
The approval also came with a shocking development — Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson was sacked the same month by the Theresa May government — after details of the move were leaked from the top-level Cabinet meeting.
Interestingly enough, Huawei happens to have friends in high places — its UK chairman is the former non-exec director of the Cabinet Office; a Huawei UK Board member is the former head of trade promotion at the Board of Trade; and the former government Chief Information Officer is now Huawei’s global security and policy officer.
The National Security Council however, remains confident it will mitigate the cybersecurity risk.
However, the Brexit may play an unexpected role. The White House is currently trying to ban Huawei from the U.S and if Trump promised post-Brexit trade deals, he may use the Chinese telecoms leader as a bargaining element.
Removing Huawei could cause significant delays in 5G roll out, but using the equipment vendors could affect their relationship with their best allies. Knowing that, Trump has started his re-election campaign, and must please his electors. He might, increase the pressure once the new prime minister is elected.