5G New Thinking, a consortium led by Cisco with principal partner University of Strathclyde, has announced a first-of-its kind project to empower rural and poorly connected communities to build their own commercially viable and sustainable 5G wireless networks.

The project, titled 5G New Thinking, will be run in partnership with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and with community and civic partners in the Orkney Islands, Borderlands and Northern Ireland. It brings together diverse partners to develop the tools, processes and business models that mean rural and poorly connected communities can rapidly establish next generation and 5G connectivity for local benefit. This is a very different approach.

5G New Thinking will help by providing a practical how-to guide for rural communities looking to capitalise on this opportunity and invest in local connectivity. By developing this replicable and flexible approach, the project aims to help poorly connected communities build commercially sustainable, next generation networks using 5G technologies. The Scotland 5G Centre will play an active part in promoting the how-to-guides and showing how this approach can be replicated in other parts of Scotland and the UK.