Tech innovation centre Digital Catapult has launched the UK’s latest 5G testbed in Brighton & Hove, with the Coast to Capital local enterprise partnership, digital networking forum Wired Sussex, and the University of Brighton.
The 5G Brighton testbed will allow small businesses in the south-coast city – known as London on Sea for its links with the capital – to benefit from 5G mobile communications.
It will also provide a space to test and explore potential new applications of the technology in a community that is full of tech startups, games companies, and digital agencies, along with two universities and several colleges.
A range of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies developed in the city were demonstrated last night in an immersive showcase at local R&D hub, Fusebox Brighton.
National strategy
The new testbed will also help meet the government’s commitment, outlined in the Industrial Strategy, for the UK to be a world leader in 5G technology.
Science Minister Sam Gyimah said, “From virtual to mixed reality, this new 5G testbed will provide the opportunity for bright ideas to flourish, demonstrating the potential of creative and digital sectors in Brighton, and showcasing our modern Industrial Strategy in action.”
Dr Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, added: “The 5G Brighton testbed lets companies experiment with new applications and services, which take advantage of the unique nature of 5G.
“This is a major step forward in the wider rollout of this advanced technology, helping take the technology out of university labs and into the market.
“5G represents more than just faster internet on the move; it’s the first mobile technology that, by design, enables free-standing setup in individual locations, offers new companies the opportunity to control their own networks, and enables operators to manage computing at the edge as a new business model for the future.”
Jonathan Sharrock, chief executive at Coast to Capital, said: “We are thrilled to have contributed local growth funding towards the 5G Brighton project, which is crucial to the development of key digital sectors in Brighton and the wider region, as identified in our Strategic Economic Plan, ‘Gatwick 360’.
“This project enables a number of our strategic priorities to progress, including innovation and improving digital network capability. We look forward to working with partners to ensure that our area is well equipped to be at the forefront of emerging technologies and uphold our reputation as a great place to live, work, and succeed.”
Internet of Business says
As the testbed announcement explained, 5G offers a significant opportunity for the UK to bring together the worlds of mobile and internet, helping to increase access speeds and improve bandwidth.
It also has the potential to open up a range of new possibilities, including: support for autonomous cars; better support for the application of Internet of Things in healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing; and support for new, more interactive models of content creation and consumption.
However, Brighton itself is an interesting testbed for both the UK’s digital ambitions and its obstacles. While it is a young, diverse, vibrant, digital city that supports independent businesses and alternative lifestyles – and boasts the only political constituency with a Green MP – parts of the city suffer from poor broadband connectivity, even in the centre of town.
Cable connectivity is patchy in Brighton, while much of the seafront consists of listed Regency buildings, meaning that satellite dishes are either forbidden or hidden from view, leaving many users reliant on BT and Openreach extending Infinity coverage to their premises.
In many cases they do not.
In one of the city’s main shopping thoroughfares, East Street, which connects the town centre with the seafront and the pier, high-speed coverage is only available near the Town Hall, but doesn’t extend further down the street, leaving many customers with some of the slowest broadband in the world: 3.5Mbps on some days, equivalent to the average speed in Algeria. Many are paying for five or six times those speeds.
For such customers and others in Brighton who are hostage to the whims of BT, 5G could be an enticing prospect. But many simply don’t understand why some parts of the city – along with other urban centres in the UK – offers no better connectivity than rural ‘notspots’.
At best, the UK is 15 years away from national full-fibre broadband coverage, as our recent report explained.