How to achieve advanced connectivity at scale

By Robert Driver 24 Jan 25 Reading time: 5 mins

Advanced connectivity has the potential to transform industries and public services across the UK, unlocking new opportunities for innovation, efficiency and resilience. 

For example, research from the Centre of Economics and Business Research and Virgin Media Business shows that investment in digital transformation will boost the UK economy by £232 billion by 2040, with connectivity the linchpin to achieving that. 

Deploying advanced connectivity at scale can have a transformative impact on a wide range of organisations and industries. In the manufacturing sector, for example, connectivity solutions like 5G can enable smart factories. Here machines, sensors, and production systems all communicate in real-time, enabling predictive maintenance, optimised workflows, and dynamic supply chain management. 

“By fostering collaboration, sharing best practice and helping drive innovation, UKTIN aims to accelerate the adoption of advanced connectivity across the UK”

Take the example of the 5G Factory of the Future, a government-funded project that developed integrated solutions through an industrial testbed to address key challenges in deploying 5G technologies in industry. This project trialled real-time monitoring of machines using the decreased latency capabilities of 5G – creating a non-fault forward manufacturing system and, ultimately, reducing costs and time associated with defects and quality issues. 

In other sectors, such as health and social care, advanced connectivity can be equally transformative. 

Consider the potential of telemedicine and remote monitoring, which rely on secure, high-speed connections to deliver timely and effective care. For instance, wearable health devices can monitor patients with chronic conditions and transmit data to healthcare providers in real-time. This enables early intervention, reducing hospital admissions and improving patient outcomes. 

Advanced connectivity can also support remote diagnostics and consultations, addressing workforce challenges in the sector and geographical disparities in healthcare delivery. For example, in rural areas advanced connectivity allows specialist doctors to consult with patients remotely, bridging the gap between demand and the availability of skilled professionals.

Fundamental challenges to adoption

The resounding feedback UKTIN has received from its working groups is that advanced connectivity can be used to help solve many of the fundamental challenges these sectors face, but adoption isn’t happening at scale yet. Widespread deployment is not always easy, with each sector having its own unique set of challenges. 

Some of these are fundamental challenges, such as weather and climate uncertainty in agriculture, or energy cost pressures impacting the financial stability of manufacturers. Meanwhile local authorities are facing a range of challenges, including huge budgetary pressures, regeneration, economic development, social care, and leading on net zero, all of which can lead to policy paralysis.

Other challenges have direct implications for the adoption of services, such as poor wireless connectivity in rural areas (impacting both agriculture and health and social care particularly), high power requirements of the agricultural sector, legacy systems and fragmented funding streams in health and social care, a need for a blend of indoor and outdoor coverage in manufacturing, and the need to tackle connectivity on trains.

One of the main barriers reported by the working groups across all verticals was cost. The initial setup costs for networks and sensors can be significant, making it difficult for many organisations to invest in advanced wireless technology without stacking a number of use cases together.

Indeed, the technological issues are some of the most straightforward riddles to solve in the adoption puzzle. The barriers around business cases and economic rationale, connecting supply and demand, budgetary and procurement challenges, siloed thinking and cultural barriers, and the sheer hard graft of operational deployment and change management, are challenging. The technology choices to be made can seem complex too – from the use of devices (internet of things), the utilisation of public networks, or the deployment of bespoke private networks or satellite solutions.

Overcoming the UK’s adoption gap

To overcome these challenges and facilitate wider adoption, it is important that the UK develops an adoption vision and strategy that focuses on the strengths of the country, with a number of key priorities that should be considered to deliver this vision.

Proving and evidencing breakthrough solutions will be vital. This has been started with the 5G Innovation Region (5GIR) programme, which has seen 10 regions throughout the UK receive a share of £36m of funding as part of a wider programme to drive the adoption of these technologies. Focusing on key sectors with local capability and opportunities, the projects aim to enable the UK to take full advantage of the transformative effect that advanced wireless connectivity and digital technologies can provide. 

There are also some smaller initiatives that could be put in place to stimulate adoption in the short term, such as accurate and freely available coverage mapping across the UK, a supplier directory linking buyers and sellers in each specific sector (the UKTIN directory is a good starting place for this), and ecosystem stimulation events that aim to get all stakeholders talking to each other about key challenges to adoption, including the commercial routes.

Alongside these cross-sector recommendations, government intervention can also provide necessary financial support and policy direction to local authorities to help the digitisation of public services supported by wireless connectivity. 

There are other actions that our working groups have suggested the government could take, including supporting a national digital skills development programme to address the expertise gap in local government.

But there is more immediate help available to those organisations looking to embark on their own advanced connectivity journey. UKTIN’s discovery toolkits provide real-world practical advice on how problems can be solved using advanced connectivity, inputs to business cases and lessons learnt from those who have already undertaken deployments. 

It is clear there is more work to do. UKTIN is committed to supporting organisations on their connectivity journey. By fostering collaboration, sharing best practice and helping drive innovation, UKTIN aims to accelerate the adoption of advanced connectivity across the UK, but achieving this vision requires concerted effort. 

By taking a collaborative and proactive approach, UK organisations can unlock the full potential of advanced connectivity, driving innovation and growth in a connected world.

Robert Driver / Guest writer

Robert Driver is a UKTIN senior advisor and adoption programme lead.