DSIT is offering stakeholders an opportunity to pitch and find consortium partners at this networking event for the Open Network Ecosystem (ONE) competition.

ONE is an open competition that will allocate up to £80 million of R&D funding to projects that support the goals of the government's 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy. For more information on the competition, please watch the recording of the ONE Competition briefing event, which was held on Monday 27th March.

The competition is aimed at helping to incentivise industry to create new products and services to unlock the full potential of Open RAN. This event will offer tech companies, large and small, and academia to network and identity partners for the competition.

  • 14:00-14:05 Welcome and introductions - Simon Rowell
  • 14:05-14:15 Competition overview - William McKinnon
  • 14:15-14:30 DSIT Q&A - James Boot, William McKinnon, Joe Williams & Graham Francis
  • 14:30 Pitches - Various
  • Wrap up and close - Simon Rowell

The event is open to organisations and businesses who are interested in taking part in the project, including but not limited to:

  • Organisations involved in the development, trialling and usage of applications products, services;
  • Network providers;
  • Mobile Network Operators;
  • Technology vendors;
  • System integrators;
  • Users of 5G Open RAN applications (eg Public service delivery bodies, Shopping centre operators, manufacturers, port operators etc.

The DSIT Open Networks Programme Team will kick off the session with an overview of the competition, and will be on hand to answer any questions before the pitching and matchmaking sessions. 

Companies who are aiming to lead on projects are welcome to apply to pitch to all attendees (four minutes per company, max 3 slides). Pitches are intended to scope out consortia needs per project, to support development or growth of bids. For example you may be looking for a specific provider to complete your consortia (supplier / user etc.) or looking to find additional providers to add more value to your consortia. 

For those not leading a consortium it is an opportunity to demonstrate your interest in joining a consortium (both as a partner or a supplier) and what you can provide. 

For those that are willing we will provide the contact details of pitchers and potential partners to attendees to support the development of consortia. 

About the competition

DSIT is supporting open and interoperable networks through the Open Networks Research and Development Fund and this competition represents the next significant investment as part of the programme. The projects funded through this competition will use developing technologies in innovative products and services to improve the readiness and availability of interoperable network products and services and demonstrate openness in live environments.

DSIT has engaged extensively with organisations across the telecoms ecosystem and identified three areas of focus to accelerate deployments and narrow performance parity gaps.

  • High Demand Density Use Cases/Demonstrations
  • RIC and other RAN Software Automation
  • Processors, RF, and other RAN Hardware

DSIT’s aim is to ensure that these investments complement the existing portfolio of projects. Funded projects will drive the adoption of Open RAN and related technologies by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and private network operators, and enable diversity in the UK’s telecoms networks.

Objectives

Projects applying to this competition are expected to address one or more of the competition objectives set out below:

  • Develop, demonstrate and test approaches to optimising Open RAN network performance in High Demand Density (HDD) environments. 
  • Develop open and interoperable software, including RIC technologies.
  • Develop hardware solutions for open interface infrastructure and/or reduce/remove barriers to scaled market adoption.

Who can apply?

This competition is open to applications from consortia with two or more members with funding available for activity taking place in the UK. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 23 May 2023 at 11:59pm.

Funding

There is up to £80 million of funding available in this competition. Grants ranging from £1 million to £10 million will be made available to individual projects lasting up to 18 months.

About the event

  • Everyone attending is encouraged to pitch. You pitch to the whole group, with pitches no more than 4 minutes and no slides required (though you may have up to 3). 

The DSIT Open Networks Programme will kick off the session with an overview of the competition, and will be on hand to answer any questions before the pitching session.

All of the guidance and competition details can be found on gov.uk and if you have further questions please contact us on [email protected]

Sophie Greaves

Sophie Greaves

Head of Telecoms and Spectrum Policy, techUK

Tales Gaspar

Tales Gaspar

Programme Manager, UK SPF and Satellite, techUK

Matthew Wild

Programme Assistant - Markets, techUK

 

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