Surrey secures £12m green telecommunications research grant

The University of Surrey’s 5/6G Innovation Centre will lead a new £12 million project aiming to ensure the security, availability and sustainability of the UK’s telecommunication network.

Funded by the UK government, the TUDOR project, standing for Towards Ubiquitous 3D Open Resilient Network, will look to research and develop technologies which could form part of a more open, flexible and scalable mobile network beyond 5G and 6G.

The project will also look into how, as 5G matures, the telecommunications network could be enhanced by new technologies as well as how the next generation of intellectual properties could strengthen global standards and the UK’s skills generation.

One of TUDOR’s key aims will be to help design and promote a more diverse telecoms market, which is particularly fitting following recent comments by the former EE chief, in which he criticised the European telecoms industry for being too bureaucratic.

Regius Professor Rahim Tafazolli, Director of the 5G/6G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey, said: “I would like to thank the government for launching this programme, and we are looking forward to working with our strong international TUDOR team to ensure the award-winning Surrey 5G Innovation Centre continues to add to the multiple contributions we’ve already made to telecommunications innovation and technologies.

“I am confident that this project will help ensure that the UK’s critical telecommunications infrastructure keeps up with the blistering pace of innovation that is happening across the globe and that the societal benefits of faster and more reliable communications are delivered in the most sustainable way possible.”

A number of major national and international organisations are part of the TUDOR consortium, including: Amazon Web Service, AWTG, BAE Systems, British Telecom, Ericsson, ETSI, InterDigital Europe, Mavenir, Nokia, National Physical Laboratory, OneWeb, Satellite Applications Catapult, Tactical Wireless, Toshiba, VIAVI Solutions, VirginMedia O2,  Imperial College London, King’s College London, Lancaster University,  Queen’s University Belfast, University of Strathclyde, University College London, University of Glasgow, AMD Fujitsu, MTC, NetRail, and Qualcomm.

Kirsty Bright, Director of Innovation Strategy & Transformation at Virgin Media O2, commented: “We are pleased to be part of the TUDOR consortium for the DCMS Future Open 3D Networks Research Challenge (FORNC).

“This exciting programme will support the design requirements of 6G via a self-evolved 3D network architecture, focusing on carrier-grade security, resilience, energy efficiency and improved indoor coverage.

“We look forward to working with the rest of the consortium members to support industry and academia in developing future-facing open and interoperable solutions to diversify the UK’s mobile network supply chain.”

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Maria Cuevas, Networks Research Director from BT, said: “We are very excited to participate in this Research collaboration, which involves great partners from different parts of the UK telecoms research and innovation ecosystem. We continue to proactively support the development of open solutions to telecoms networks and a gradual evolution forward from 5G technologies.”

Magnus Frodigh, VP & Head of Ericsson Research, said: “Ericsson is looking forward to working in close partnership with the winners of the Future Open Networks Research Challenge in the UK.

“Through this government-funded program and our own recently announced multi-million-pound 6G research investment, the country is ready to begin the journey of developing future network technologies, architectures, and global standards as well as leading the way to an efficient and sustainable society powered by limitless connectivity for a cyber-physical continuum.”

The UK government's TUDOR program aims to decrease the country's reliance on a few suppliers for constructing and maintaining telecommunications networks.

The University of Surrey has been granted £12 million in funding as part of a £28 million allocation shared among three UK universities. The investment is intended to strengthen the UK's position as a global leader in telecommunications research and development.

Digital Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “The technology powering our phone and internet networks is evolving rapidly, and with 6G on the horizon, we must stay ahead of the curve.

“This huge investment will see top universities join forces with industry to build, test and roll out the nuts and bolts underpinning new networks while ensuring our plan for a more diverse and innovative telecoms market is sustained in the future.

“The funding will also turbocharge our work to strengthen telecoms supply chains, so we are no longer reliant on a handful of companies to develop and maintain our 5G networks.”

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Featured image: iStock