Open Networks Research and Development Fund
The Open Networks Research and Development (R&D) Fund was a £250 million programme designed to support the UK’s 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy.
About the fund
The UK government published the 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy in 2020. This set out its commitment to building secure and resilient communications infrastructure, as well as enhancing competition and innovation within the telecoms supply chain. These ambitious plans were supported by a £250 million Open Networks R&D Fund, which aimed to accelerate the development and deployment of open interface architectures, such as Open RAN.
During the programme, momentum was already evident in the global market to ensure open-interface solutions reached near commercial grade for wide-scale deployments.
The government’s £250 million investment accelerated the pace of these initiatives - enabling the development of open-interface solutions and intensifying efforts to shape technology standards alongside key industry and international partners.
This investment represented a significant step forward in the UK’s endeavour to play a leading role in early stage research and guide the development of technology standards, in collaboration with industry and international stakeholders.
It is with this in mind the investment and planned activities were designed to safeguard the security, resilience, competition and innovation benefits of diverse telecoms supply chains, without compromising on the performance, features or efficiency.
Central to the Open Networks R&D Fund was the ambition to:
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accelerate open-interface products and solutions – ensuring they are truly interoperable, performant, and sustainable – to support our long-term vision for a more open and innovative telecoms market
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incentivise and derisk accelerated deployment in the UK – to encourage and accelerate network operators to adopt and deploy open network solutions
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develop an internationally recognised UK telecoms ecosystem – positioning the UK as a leading global market and focal point for research into open network technology
The programme ran until March 2026, with each project focusing on different aspects of the technologies that underpin open networking. It supported the telecoms sector and wider ecosystem to develop open and interoperable products. The programme created space to explore new approaches and options, enabling continued support for businesses and researchers as the market evolved.
Evolving the innovation ecosystem
UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN)
UKTIN was the innovation network for the UK telecoms sector, funded through the Open Networks Programme, bringing together industry, academia, and government to catalyse telecoms R&D investment, cooperation, and commercialisation.
Formed in 2022, UKTIN’s mission was to transform the UK telecoms innovation ecosystem, by capitalising on the country’s strengths in technology, academia, and entrepreneurialism, while positioning the sector for growth as new opportunities emerged. UKTIN provided an impartial, inclusive, and collaborative forum for telecoms innovation, convening organisations from industry, government and academia into a single network where they could interact in a neutral environment and on a level playing field. Through this network, participants forged new connections, identified ideas and concepts with innovation potential from across the UK, developed a shared understanding of industry needs and skills requirements, and matched resources (such as investment and talent) to organisations and projects.
Read more about the work of UKTIN on their National Archives page.
Accelerating maturity
Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) Competition
The ONE competition offered up to £80 million of funding in the next phase of the UK Open Networks Research and Development (R&D) Fund.
The competition sought to address key barriers to the adoption of open mobile networks, focussing on the following areas:
1. High Demand Density (HDD) Use Cases/Demonstrations: HDD sites such as city centres and transport hubs represent some of the most challenging environments for mobile network performance. The competition supported projects to develop, demonstrate and test approaches for optimising mobile network performance in these demanding settings.
2. Processors, radio frequency and other RAN Hardware: The competition funded projects addressing challenges across radio frequency components, hardware, chipsets and radio technologies, helping to ensure that the foundational building blocks for the telecoms ecosystem are secure, resilient and diverse.
3. RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and other RAN Software Automation: Funding was also provided to projects investigating the RIC, X app and R app software components, with the aim of improving efficiency, reducing energy consumption, accelerating deployment and enhancing security.
Read more about the ONE projects on their case study page..
Future RAN: Diversifying the 5G Supply Chain Competition (FRANC)
The FRANC Competition was an open UK government competition launched in July 2021 to support the objectives of the UK’s 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy by driving innovation across Radio Access Network (RAN) technology. The competition aimed to incentivise industry to create new products and services that unlock the full potential of Open RAN and help diversify the telecoms supply chain, £36 million was awarded to successful projects following evaluation. It closed in August 2021 and funded fourteen consortia working across a range of technical areas from cloud-native and AI-enabled RAN platforms and advanced test systems to hardware innovations and modular, interoperable 5G components. The selected projects demonstrated solutions to enhance performance, interoperability, security and manufacturability within Open RAN, helping to broaden the UK ecosystem of suppliers and accelerate the development of next-generation mobile network technologies.
Read more about the FRANC projects on their case study page..
Future Open Networks (FONRC) Research Challenge.
The FONRC challenge was launched to encourage universities to work with telecom organisations of all sizes to undertake research and development into the design of future telecoms networks, ensuring they remained open to competition and new market entrants.
The three winning consortia were led by prestigious UK universities: University of York, University of Bristol and University of Surrey.
The projects supported the creation and development of more UK-based capabilities to help diversify the UK telecoms industry, while also accelerating the development of future technologies, such as 6G.
See more information about the Future Open Networks Research Challenge..
International outreach
Developing UK-specific requirements provides new and emerging market entrant suppliers with greater clarity over the products they need to develop to compete in the UK, as defined by their customers, and this greater transparency makes the UK a more appealing market. This workstream was maximised through international partnerships and collaborative R&D to develop global markets for export and provide an avenue for like-minded partners to contribute to the diversification of the UK’s telecoms supply chain.
The programme launched a partnership with the Republic of Korea in 2022 to accelerate the development of power-efficient products and solutions for open interface architectures.
See more information about the UK & Republic of Korea Open RAN R&D collaboration..
Developing facilities and demonstration capabilities
SONIC
The SmartRAN Open Networks Interoperability Centre (SONIC Labs) was established in 2021 to help commercialise open-interface solutions and test their performance. Over £25 million of Open Networks Programme funding was committed to create SONIC Labs as a commercially neutral, collaborative environment for open, disaggregated, and software-centric network solutions and multi-vendor architectures. Maintained and operated by Digital Catapult and Ofcom, it provided testing services for suppliers and enabled the wider community to demonstrate their equipment to the standards required by network operators. The facility was designed and built for long-term capability, leaving a lasting impact on the UK telecoms ecosystem.
To find out more about SONIC Labs visit their website.
UK Telecoms Lab (UKTL)
UKTL was established to support and inform the UK’s security and supply chain diversification ambitions by providing independent, world-class testing, evaluation and research capabilities for telecoms equipment and software. Based in a purpose-built facility in Solihull and funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UKTL was opened in 2023 and is operated by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), offering industry, government and academia a secure, neutral environment to assess security, resilience and interoperability before deployment.
UKTL played a key role in advancing the UK’s telecoms diversification and security policies by identifying vulnerabilities, supporting diverse supplier entry, and contributing to the development of more secure and resilient networks as telecoms technology evolved. Its work has strengthened confidence in future-ready communications infrastructure and helped build capability across the UK’s critical telecoms ecosystem.
To find out more about UKTL visit their website.
A neutral-host solution for deploying Open RAN technology
NeutrORAN was one of the early projects funded through the Open Networks Programme, demonstrating practical progress in the adoption of Open RAN technologies. Delivered in partnership with NEC, a leading Open RAN supplier, the project implemented and tested a multi-operator “neutral host” Open RAN solution in rural outdoor environments in North Wales, including Cefn Du and Menai Science Park (M-SParc).
By enabling multiple service providers to share infrastructure, NeutrORAN showed how Open RAN and neutral host models could deliver more cost-effective, scalable connectivity to underserved areas, with potential applicability beyond the UK. The project also built on NEC’s wider investment in the UK, including the establishment of Open RAN and 5G R&D centres.
Publications
For DSIT publications, announcements and useful documents regarding the Open Networks Research and Development Fund please visit the Open Networks Research and Development Fund collection page.
Digital content
MWC 2024: the world’s leading connectivity industry event
Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona, the world’s leading connectivity industry event, welcomed its largest audience in years with over 101,000 attendees in 2024. Colleagues from DSIT’s Digital Infrastructure Directorate, telecommunications leaders and industry partners gathered to discuss the future of the industry, the impact of government interventions and showcase the latest innovations
MWC video 2024: the world’s leading connectivity industry event.
Telecoms Innovation in the UK
In London on 14 September 2023, the 19 successful projects in the Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) competition were announced, part of government’s £250 million Open Networks R&D Fund delivering on the 5G Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Strategy. Hear the industry, project and academic partners reflect on the strength of telecoms innovation and the opportunities for growth at the Open Networks Programme Collaboration Event.
Telecoms Innovation in the UK video.
The value of collaboration - The Open Networks Programme
The value of collaboration video - The Open Networks Programme.
In London on the 14 of September 2023, The Right Honourable Sir John Whittingdale, Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure announced the 19 successful projects in the Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) competition - a part of the government’s £250 million Open Networks R&D Fund delivering on the 5G Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Strategy.
The event provided a mixture of conference, exhibition and networking opportunities, bringing together 250 attendees from the various projects funded by the Open Networks Programme. Representing a broad cross-section of the UK telecoms community, it was used as an opportunity to collaborate with others on progress and learnings to date, as well as share best practices and forge new connections.
DSIT’s Digital Infrastructure Directorate Explainer
The Digital Infrastructure (DI) directorate in the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) sets policies to promote investment, protect national security, grow the UK telecoms ecosystem, and run innovative programmes for the next generation of telecoms technology.
DSIT Digital Infrastructure Directorate Explainer.
Building Skills in UK Telecoms
Vishal Mathur, the Telecom Infra Project’s (TIP) Head of Engagement, reflects on the importance of building skills in the UK telecoms industry at the inaugural UK Telecoms Innovation Ecosystem Conference in 2023. TIP was the lead partner in ARI-5G, one of the governments ONE competition projects.
Building Skills in UK Telecoms video
DSIT’s first stand at Connected Britain 2024
DSIT’s first stand at Connected Britain 2024 video.
The Connected Britain 2024 conference was an exciting convergence of experts, innovators, and policymakers, and DSIT played a key role in showcasing the latest in digital infrastructure. Held at ExCeL London from September 11-12, 2024, the event drew over 7,500 attendees, making it a significant opportunity for networking, learning, and collaboration.
Future Networks Programme (FNP) Themed Weeks Campaign
The FNP Themed Week campaign was a nine-week initiative that ran across social media channels, with anchor content published on UKTIN’s platforms. The campaign highlighted the innovative work being done across FNP projects, including the Open Networks Programme as well as the Wireless Infrastructure initiatives, encouraging projects to engage by sharing relevant content aligned with weekly themes.
Each week focused on a specific theme, with projects posting related use cases and content during their designated weeks.
Week 1: Agritech/Rural industries
Week 2: Public health and social care
Week 3: Security
Week 4: Tourism, Entertainment and Creative industries
Tourism, Entertainment and Creative industries
Week 5: Transport
Week 6: RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC)
RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC)
Week 7: Hardware
Week 8: Advanced Manufacturing
Week 9: Labs
Updates to this page
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Updated to reflect the end of the funding period.
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Updated UKTL description and digital content section to include the Future Network Programme themed weeks.
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Updated sections on UK Telecoms Lab and National Physical Laboratory.
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Added prospectus document.
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First published.