Government launches £30m competition to help bring 5G to rural communities

The government has launched a £30 million competition for projects that will help bring 5G to rural communities across the UK. The Rural Connected Communities (RCC) competition will fund up to 10 5G research and development projects to run over two years, and is open to consortia from across the UK, which it anticipates are likely to be made up of a mixture of organisations including the public, private and third sectors, and academia. Up to ten rural locations will be chosen to run trials of 5G applications and stimulate commercial investment in 5G technology, with the competition aiming to ‘spark a tech revolution in countryside communities and help rural Britain seize the opportunities of 5G technology’. The deadline for entries is midday on 25 October, with a briefing event taking place on 12 September. Winning projects are expected to be announced before the end of the year. The Rural Connected Communities competition is the latest wave of £200 million funding from the government to drive 5G’s rollout across the country. Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said: “This funding demonstrates the UK Government’s commitment towards eliminating the disparity in connection between urban and rural areas whilst exploring innovative ways to use 5G technology to develop emerging industries, supporting our rural economy in Wales. “This is a great opportunity for rural areas to boost the productivity and capacity of their digital infrastructure and I’d encourage local partners to come together to apply to benefit their communities.”  Further details can be found on the competition page.

from UK Fundraising https://ift.tt/2NAUXGJ