29 Aug 2019

£30m rural 5G competition and consultation on rural mobile planning rules announced

Earlier this week, digital secretary Nicky Morgan launched the £30 million Rural Connected Communities (RCC) competition. It will select up to 10 rural locations to run trials of 5G applications for two years – with the goal of stimulating commercial investment in 5G and helping rural Britain to see benefits from the technology.

The funding for the competition comes from a £200 million project to build 5G testbeds across the country. The competition’s organisers are seeking projects that will “trial innovative use cases and technical solutions to build the business case for investment in rural connectivity and explore the capabilities of 5G to benefit rural communities. They will also help demonstrate demand from a variety of economic sectors and rural communities for 5G technologies.”

“Connectivity applications are expected to show a combination of societal and economic benefits that will together create a stronger case for investing in the deployment of 5G infrastructure for rural areas.”

The deadline for RCC applications is 25 October and more information about the competition and the application process can be found here.

The government has also launched a consultation on proposals to simplify planning rules to improve rural mobile coverage. The proposals include:

The government is also seeking to hear how the telecoms industry might be able to mitigate the impact of any new infrastructure, including assurances of a greater use of existing sites and the removal of redundant masts.