Date published: 2024-01-05 | Category: economic development, Delivering for local residents
A £773,132 government grant which would fund an 18-month pilot scheme to test a next generation 5G mobile network in Bath city centre has been awarded to Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The money would fund a pilot involving between 200 to 300 volunteers, from a broad mix of local communities, testing the new 5G network. If successful, the network would then be opened up to the wider public in spring 2025.
Its aim would be to address the connectivity and capacity issues relating to mobile network coverage which Bath experiences.
A Single Member Decision report to decide whether to accept the grant offer of £773,132 and approve Bath & North East Somerset’s role as a partner to deliver the pilot called One Word, has gone before Councillor Paul Roper, cabinet member for Economic and Cultural Sustainable Development.
The report highlights a market failure in the sector, with lack of investment from private telecoms companies which is exacerbated by UK Government restricting some international vendors.
As a result, the Department for Science Innovation and Technology has issued a series of Open Network Ecosystem (ONE) funding calls to unlock investment in new next generation open mobile networks that multiple vendors can share.
If approved the Bath City Centre pilot would then need to get planning permission for a network of around 20 small cell radio units to be installed in key locations on lamp posts around the heart of the city.
During a pilot phase, a specific SIM card would be provided for users to test the network and at least 200 high-specification handsets would be provided to volunteers in order to test the network’s resilience and performance in managing high demand in a dense environment.
Two indoor locations, the Roman Baths and Bath Rugby Stadium, have also been identified as options to install additional radio units to test the network to benefit customer experiences.
During the pilot phase a number of test events would also take place where users place high demand on the network at the same time and location, with the potential for more realistic testing to occur during future events such as sports fixtures and the Bath Christmas Market.
Councillor Roper said: “Digital inequalities, due to skills gaps, cost or coverage can impact on whether someone can access services, goods and employment. Surveys carried out by the council show a significant proportion of residents cite connectivity issues as a barrier to accessing services and information online. Many of us are familiar with the poor mobile phone reception areas in the City Centre, especially on busy days such as a Saturday match at The Rec. If successful, this pilot will resolve that issue. That has to be great news. Our manifesto commitment is to improve connectivity in the City and wider community and we are delivering. The council has now been offered funding to address this problem. I look forward to receiving the Single Member Decision report on the pilot and will consider carefully the options before me.”
Currently the scope of the initial pilot would, if approved, focus on central Bath, however there would be potential for additional networks to be added to the high streets of Keynsham and Midsomer Norton, increasing the benefits of the improved digital connectivity, coverage and speed across the authority area.
The grant for the One Word pilot has come from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) which put out an Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) funding call in March 2023. The ONE fund was developed in order to tackle key barriers to the adoption of open mobile networks: with trials in areas of high demand, and to allow for development of new Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) software and hardware solutions to improve performance of these networks.
Details have been listed on the council’s Forward Plan and the single member decision report with details of the recommendations is on the council’s website here.
ENDS