West Midlands to Get Mobile Telecoms Lab

New UK Telecoms Lab opens in UK West Midlands.

07:45 27 October 2022

The new UK Telecoms Lab has officially opened in West Midlands. Valued at £15.3bn, the lab is expected to boost the region's growing tech sector and create significant high-skilled tech jobs. 

 

The facility is designed to bring together suppliers, telecom operators and academics to research and test innovative new ways of boosting the resilience, security and performance of existing UK's mobile networks. Said to be the first of its kind in the country, the Solihull-based lab is expected to play a crucial role in closing the digital skills gap locally as well as nationally by creating dozens of specialised jobs in telecoms and cyber security. The new lab will also enable telecom companies and suppliers to test their equipment in a realistic environment allowing faster rollout of mobile technology and ensuring people can have full confidence in UK networks through the proper and timely identification of security risks and vulnerabilities. 

 

UK tech minister Damian Collins commenting on the opening of the facility said: “Fast-growing firms are cementing Birmingham’s status as a tech powerhouse – boosting jobs and spreading economic growth right across the West Midlands,”

 

“There is no better home for the new UK Telecoms Lab, which will turn the region into a centre for expertise and innovation in the security of next-generation mobile networks.”