UK university researching 5G technology
UK university researching 5G technology
The University of Surrey is researching fifth generation technology (5G), which it says has the potential to “revolutionise mobile and internet access”.
The research team has secured a total of £35 million in funding for the project, from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund and a consortium of influential mobile operators and infrastructure providers. The money will be put towards creating a 5G Innovation Centre, which will work to boost growth in “telecommunication research, development, innovation and the provision of broadband mobile internet services”. The researchers say the project could help to boost economic growth further down the line.
The University of Surrey says that the 5G Innovation Centre will draw in international telecoms firms to carry out research and development on new 5G standards in the UK, and will also link up to new satellite communications developments and the Government’s Connected Digital Economy initiative.
Professor Rahim Tafazolli, a top communications expert, who leads the University of Surrey’s Centre for Communication Systems Research, commented, "The global telecommunications industry, valued at $2.1 trillion per annum, is already responsible for six per cent of world GDP. Mobile communications data traffic is expected to increase 1,000 fold by 2020, by which time there will be an estimated at least 50 billion Internet-capable devices."
He added, “The growth in the number of new applications running on the networks is accelerating, as ever more mobile devices become the preferred route for Internet access. Such unprecedented data traffic growth requires the urgent introduction of new 5G advanced technologies that maximise the use of the limited available radio spectrum and provide for greener technologies and solutions.”
Like 4G services, 5G is likely to provide a strong infrastructure for businesses and will help more companies adopt cloud computing and other online services, like VoIP, video conferencing and remote desktops etc.
Businesses that want to take advantage of remote working, video conferencing and other time and money-saving technologies can do so by opting for managed network services through a leased line.
