The government has announced plans to establish a national capability to support the security & resilience of the telecoms sector, based in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. 

The UK Telecoms Lab is being formed as a direct outcome of the 2019 Telecoms Supply Chain Review. The first of its kind in the country, the Lab will act as a secure research facility bringing together telecom operators, suppliers and academics to research and test innovative new ways of boosting the security, resilience and performance of the UK’s mobile networks.

The Lab will help get faster mobile technology rolled out quicker, ensure vital equipment and software are protected against cyber attacks, and enable new businesses to enter the UK telecoms market by testing to ensure equipment is fully interoperable.

In April 2021, the Vodafone group established a global Open RAN Test and Validation Lab facility in their corporate campus in Newbury. The lab is designed to fully address their specific and detailed technical and business requirements. 

NEC established its European 5G Centre of Excellence (CoE) and test lab in Ruislip, just outside of West London in 2020. It has a clear focus on Open RAN integration and end-to-end solution development and validation and has been supporting Open RAN trials and integration testing engagements with major European telco groups, like Telefonica, DT and Vodafone.