NEC and Freshwave have been selected to lead Project NAVIGATE, part of the UK Government’s Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) competition.
The ONE competition sits within the government’s wider £250 million 5G Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Strategy, designed to support pioneering research and development across the telecoms sector and stimulate innovation in network technologies.
Tom Bennett, CTO at Freshwave, said they are pleased to be part of the Open Networks Ecosystem Competition and look forward to working with consortium partners. As a neutral host provider, Freshwave focuses on shareable infrastructure and close collaboration across the telecoms ecosystem—approaches that reduce costs, speed deployment, and broaden benefits to communities and local economies. Bennett emphasized that allowing operators to retain architectural and operational control remains a fundamental design principle.
Project NAVIGATE
With a budget of £7.42 million, Project NAVIGATE aims to develop a practical blueprint for deploying open, shareable 4G and 5G capacity in High-Density Deployment (HDD) settings. The project will demonstrate how Open RAN technologies can deliver flexible, efficient networks suitable for dense urban environments.
NEC and Freshwave will collaborate to deploy a small cell solution across a dense area of London using NEC’s Open vRAN software. The initiative will test the technical and operational viability of Open RAN in real-world conditions, focusing on cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency compared with conventional single-vendor RAN deployments.
By validating Open RAN’s practical benefits, NAVIGATE intends to accelerate broader adoption of the technology, supporting improved coverage and capacity through shared infrastructure and enabling a more connected future for the UK.
Government’s vision and industry collaboration
Sir John Whittingdale, Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure, highlighted the importance of reliable mobile connectivity across both urban and rural areas for staying connected, accessing services, and conducting business. He underscored the need for diverse and secure technologies to underpin the national network.
Project NAVIGATE aligns with this vision by promoting openness and lowering barriers to entry for new Open RAN vendors, reinforcing the government’s commitment to innovation and collaboration within the telecoms sector.
Industry voices: NEC and Freshwave
NEC welcomed the selection to provide a Neutral Host, Open RAN, High-Density Demand Outdoor solution for the project. Hideyuki Ogata, General Manager of the 5G Solution Department at NEC, described the company’s goal of supporting supply chain diversification by deploying an Open vRAN-based reference architecture. This approach aims to accelerate market development and deliver cost-effective, energy-efficient solutions built on open standards.
Ogata explained that NEC’s solution, drawing on Neutral Host Outdoor (NHOD) specifications, will allow mobile network operators to introduce new wireless services and enhance coverage and capacity without deploying and managing separate infrastructure. He noted that NEC’s Open vRAN software is a central element in scaling Open RAN adoption globally.
By adopting Open RAN technologies, Project NAVIGATE seeks to improve connectivity while encouraging a more innovative and collaborative telecoms landscape.
(Photo by Maayan Nemanov on Unsplash)
See also: UK joins leading nations to strengthen telecoms security and innovation
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