UK government awards Future RAN Competition funding to ADVA-led consortium

News summary:

• 5G DU-Volution project will develop open RAN solutions and boost country’s 5G supply chain
• ADVA building dedicated open RAN systems integration center in UK
• Significant investment in the north of England supports UK “levelling up” agenda

ADVA (FSE: ADV) today announced that its UK 5G DU-Volution consortium has won British government funding. Aimed at evolving 5G infrastructure, the project addresses the key goals of the Future Radio Access Network: Diversifying the 5G Supply Chain program. It will promote integration of new technology suppliers for open RAN solutions and develop innovation that enhances spectral efficiency and reduces power, footprint and latency in mobile networks. The ADVA-led consortium includes BT, the University of York, the Scotland 5G Centre and UK-based software companies AccelerComm and CommAgility.

“This project will help the UK unlock the true potential of 5G. Together with our partners, we’re solving key challenges for disaggregated, vendor-neutral RAN infrastructure and enabling a new generation of mobile services,” said Christoph Glingener, CTO at ADVA. “As well as supporting interoperability and bolstering supply chains, 5G DU-Volution will create a springboard for British software innovation. By spearheading this project, we’re developing relationships between education institutions and employers and helping to transform the UK into a center of open RAN excellence.”

ADVA and its partners were awarded the funding as one of the winning teams in the UK’s Future Radio Access Network Competition (FRANC), which is focused on supporting rapid nationwide rollout of 5G and attracting new home-grown telecommunication vendors to the mobile network supply chain. As well as promoting diversification and interoperability in 5G architectures, the project offers a boost to the UK government’s “levelling up” agenda. Significant investment in the north of England will include ADVA’s new open RAN systems integration center. This will help tackle regional inequality and make the UK a global powerhouse for open and disaggregated 5G technology.

“We’re proud to be playing a leading role in this project. 5G DU-Volution will provide a platform for a new wave of open RAN software innovators as well as introducing UK-based technology and talent to the global telecoms market,” commented Anthony Magee, senior director of global business development at ADVA. “By working closely together, our consortium will overcome key hurdles to develop and integrate open RAN software and hardware that meet the needs of 5G. We’ll also be testing our early-stage solutions in real-world mobile network settings, including BT’s Adastral Park. What’s more, alongside our research and education partners, we’ll be working towards the next generation of mobile connectivity by evolving the test facilities towards a 6G future.”