Quickline has taken a significant step in its commitment to nurturing regional talent by welcoming its first cohort of telecoms apprentices, reflecting the company’s dedication to delivering social value as part of its four government-awarded Project Gigabit contracts.
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.”