€8m European Commission Funding to Develop Multi-Tenancy Enabled 5G Network Infrastructures Targeting Innovations in RAN Virtualization and Mobile Edge Cloud Computing

CAMBRIDGE, England, August 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Ip.access part of the consortium that will develop network infrastructures for the 5G ecosystem    

A consortium of Telecom industry vendors, IT companies, Small and medium-sized enterprises and academic organisations in Europe has been awarded €8m research funding to develop the infrastructure required to support the future 5G network and communication systems. As part of the European Commission funded Horizon 2020 programme (H2020), innovative small cell solutions provider, ip.access, has been included in the consortium led by Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE), named Project SESAME.

The 30 month research and development programme will design and demonstrate virtualised, cloud-enabled, multi-operator, frequency agile, 5G-oriented radio access and services.

Starting from July 2015, Project SESAME targets innovations around the three central elements of 5G: network intelligence through Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) and Mobile Edge Cloud Computing, substantial evolution of the Small Cell concept to create targeted coverage and capacity, and the consolidation of multi-tenancy in mobile network infrastructure; allowing several operators and service providers to engage in new sharing models.

"The old model for cellular, with dedicated hardware and dedicated spectrum per operator, is breaking down," said Dr. Nick Johnson, CTO of ip.access. "As demand continues to grow exponentially, with limited additional spectrum, flat subscriber growth and falling revenues per subscriber, new ways have to be found to use the resources we have more efficiently. This project does this by allowing spectrum to be shared between operators in a controllable, measurable and agile way."

While standards-based solutions exist to address some of these issues, this project builds beyond the current state-of-the-art infrastructure, to make a commercially compelling, technically advanced solution for next generation 5G mobile networks.

"It sets the scene for hardware resources to be virtualised by providing new services close to the network edge, and places it within a standards-based context for maximum competitiveness and value to the consumer," Dr. Johnson continues.

"We are pleased to welcome ip.access to the SESAME consortium. They bring a rare combination of technical excellence and innovative thinking that will benefit the project immensely", says Dr Ioannis Chochliourous, Head of Research Programmes, Fixed and Mobile Network Evolution, OTE, and Project Coordinator for SESAME.

Project SESAME consortium includes 18 members that span across the European Union, including the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Greece.

About ip.access [http://www.ipaccess.com] 

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, ip.access has been creating and deploying small cell solutions for more than ten years. The company has products and solutions live in over 100 customers' networks around the world, with the capability to accelerate the introduction of additional small cell solutions into those networks irrespective of use case, technology or deployment model.

The company's success is built upon its ability to provide its Service Provider customers with a range of small cell coverage, capacity and presence solutions across all technologies (2G, 3G, and 4G), with a focus on a rapid return on investment and the ability to open up new markets and revenue streams.

The company has an end-to-end deployment philosophy that integrates the small cell access points with converged access gateways and comprehensive network management and performance tools; as well as a strong track record of working with trusted partners on integrated solutions.

Background on the EU's Horizon 2020 5G PPP initiative  

Horizon 2020 is the largest EU research and innovation programme, with nearly €80 billion in public funding available over seven years (2014-2020) in addition to the private investment it will attract. The 5G Public-Private Partnership (5G PPP) is an instrument launched as part of Horizon 2020, with a budget of €700 million in public funding expected to leverage five times this amount (€3.5 billion) in private investment.