Liverpool 5G Create project wins £4.3m funding from UK govt

A project to deliver digital services to sick and elderly people in Liverpool has won £4.3million from the UK government.

The Liverpool 5G Create : Connecting Health and Social Care project aims to keep disadvantaged residents digitally connected once analogue telephones are switched off in 2025.

The project consortium, which includes computer technology experts at Liverpool John Moores University, will create private independent 5G networks and be used by health and social care services in Liverpool.

5G provides more than a Gigabit per second of data (superfast) able to transmit to many machines including mobile phones, and often known as the Internet of Things.

Technical challenge

Getting the signal into buildings is part of the technical challenge and a trial in the Kensington employs a mesh network of 220 nodes, mostly in lampposts. The network will effectively provide free wifi connections to services like health monitoring apps and and a remote GP triaging service.

The consortium comprises the University of Liverpool (UoL), Liverpool City Council, Liverpool John Moores University, CGA Simulation, Docobo, Blu Wireless Technology, Broadway Partners, NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group and Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Joe Spencer, of UoL, said: “This is a great opportunity to build on our previous testbed and develop the British technology that can change people’s lives by enabling affordable connectivity and reducing digital poverty.”

The Liverpool 5G Create project will be handled and supported by eHealth Cluster, while Telet Research (NI), AIMES Management Services, and Real Wireless will provide further services.

Principal investigator for the LJMU technology team is Dr Atif Waraich, co-director of the School of Computing and Mathematics.

-The £30m 5G Create is being managed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), as part of its 5G Testbed and Trials Programme.