Investment of £62m made to boost telecoms research

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has announced a £62m investment to support the development of technologies that will be crucial to future telecoms networks.

Sixteen new projects will take a share of £22m to support the development and commercialisation of cutting-edge tech solutions and lay the groundwork for the networks of the future.

Meanwhile, £40m will provide further support for three existing Future Telecoms Research Hubs led by Imperial College London, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, alongside the creation of a national infrastructure for future telecoms testing and development linked to the UK National Dark Fibre Facility.

The hubs support research in 6G, developing new architectures and networks for end-to-end connectivity, embedding AI and computing and developing wireless access systems such as cell-free networks and optical wireless integration.

Julia Lopez, Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure, said: “This funding boost will help drive the UK’s efforts to bring forward the next wave of future telecoms technology.”