Open Networks Ecosystem Competition
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is inviting applications for up to £80 million of funding to support the development of open network solutions.
Overview
The Open Networks Ecosystem Competition is offering up to £80m of funding in the next phase of the UK Open Networks Research and Development (R&D) Fund.
The Open Networks Ecosystem competition is part of the government’s Open Networks R&D Fund which delivers on the £250 million 5G Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Strategy through a range of telecoms R&D projects. These include the Future RAN Competition (FRANC), the Future Open Networks Research Challenge, as well as bodies such as SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre (SONIC Labs), the UK Telecoms Innovation Network and the UK Telecoms Lab.
Organisations can apply for funding to develop a range of software and hardware products that will enable enhanced development and adoption of open and interoperable technology; as well as the opportunity to apply for funding for demonstrations of Open RAN technologies in high demand density environments.
The competition aims to tackle barriers to the adoption of open mobile networks in three key challenge areas:
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High Demand Density (HDD) Use Cases/Demonstrations: HDD sites such as urban areas, airports, sports venues and major public events represent the most challenging environments for the technical performance of mobile networks. We’re looking to fund projects which seek to develop, demonstrate and test approaches for optimising mobile network performance in High Demand Density environments.
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RIC and other RAN Software Automation: We’re interested in projects which seek to explore how the openness and interoperability of Open RAN software, including Near-Real-Time or Real-Time RIC technologies and apps, could be improved.
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Processors, RF, and other RAN Hardware: We’re interested in projects looking to accelerate the development of performant open interface RAN hardware, such as analogue RF and antenna components, RF chips, and baseband processing solutions to address the disparity in features, performance, and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) between traditional and open solutions.
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 reduce/remove barriers to scaled market adoption.
Detailed information about competition objectives can be found in the competition guidance. Successful projects will run until the end of March 2025.
You can also watch a recording of our launch briefing event for a general overview of the competition.
Watch ONE Competition launch event
Competition process and dates
The competition will run for ten weeks - the key milestones and deadlines are set out below:
Milestones and deadlines:
Competition opens: 14 March 2023
Competition briefing event: 27 March 2023
DSIT Subsidy Control Teach-in: 17 April 2023
DSIT Commercial and Finance Teach-in: 19 April 2023
Clarification questions receipt deadline: 17 May 2023
Competition closes: 11:59pm 23 May 2023
Successful applicants notified: Late June 2023
Grant funding period: Subject to successful applicants’ satisfactory completion of pre-grant requirements and commercial agreements
Estimated project start: September 2023
Projects end: 31 March 2025
Forming a consortium
If you are looking for partners to join a potential consortium bid, there are a number of sources you can use:
- View the GOV.UK ‘Find a consortium partner: Open Networks Ecosystem Competition’ page, which lists organisations looking to partner (this will be kept up to date throughout the competition);
- The ONE Competition Pitching event, held on 18 April 2023, included presentations from 24 organisations who were looking to partner with others
- Contact the UKTIN Specialist Guidance Service at specialistguidance@uktin.net who can provide advice and introductions
How to apply
Eligibility
This competition is open to applications from UK-based organisations. Specific eligibility criteria for the competition can be found in the competition guidance.
Additional clarifications on eligibility are contained in our public Q&A document.
Funding and subsidy control
There is up to £80 million of grant funding available from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in this competition (for eligible costs in FY23/24 and FY24/25).
Grants ranging from £1 million to £10 million will be made available to successful projects.
Applicants should ensure they are aware of our guidance on subsidy control in section 2.6 of the competition guidance, which sets out the financial contributions they may need to make to projects, on top of grant funding received from government.
Additional clarifications on subsidy control, costs and funding can be found in:
- the ONE competition Q&A document.
- the slidedeck and video from the subsidy control teach-in, held on 17 April 2023.
Commercial and finance
For guidance on commercial and finance aspects of your bid, in addition to sections 4, 5 and 6 of the competition guidance, you may wish to refer to:
- clarifications on the grant funding and costs in our Q&A document
- the slidedeck and video from the 19 April 2023 finance teach-in
- the DSIT proposals for changing the draft Grant Funding Agreement, which are intended to simplify the process for project partners.
Submitting your application
To submit your proposals, please refer to the ‘How to Apply’ section of the competition guidance (sections 5 and 6).
You must submit all required documents via the Find a Grant site by 11:59pm on 23 May 2023.
Submissions via email are acceptable only in the event of technical problems with the Find a Grant portal, and must be received by the above deadline.
Further detailed guidance on the application process can be found in the ONE Competition Q&A document.
Contact us
If you have any questions or would like more clarification, please contact us on ONP.enquiries@dcms.gov.uk.
The deadline for a guaranteed response to clarification questions was 17 May 2023, but we will answer additional queries where possible.
Our public Q&A document contains an anonymised record of answers provided to all questions raised, unless these are commercially sensitive. (Last updated, 23 May 2023)
Required documents
Further guidance on competition themes
Last updated 23 June 2023 + show all updates
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Update to Grant Funding Agreement template, including addition of 'compare change' version to the previous draft.
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The deadline to submit clarification questions to DSIT has been extended to Wednesday 17 May 2023.
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New content has been added, cover how to find organisations to collaborate with on bids, and additional guidance on subsidy control and commercial considerations when making bids.
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A link has been added to a new technical guidance document on high-density environment. The Competition Q&A document has been updated.
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A link has been added to the new publication, 'Open Networks Ecosystem competition: clarification questions with responses' (published 29 March 2023).
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First published.