Recommendation 31

Since 2017, the Department has spent £400 million in developing possible uses for 5G because it is not yet obvious that consumers will need 5G and the commercial case is not yet clear enough to support industry’s investment.59 The Department’s strategy set out its plans to provide a further £36 million for UK regions to promote growth through investment in 5G, and up to £100 million for research into more advanced technologies such as 6G.60 The Department told us that its research programmes and testbeds have aimed to understand the potential applications that may only be possible using 5G technology and how to grow them to scale. However, the Department acknowledged that, although it has published information on what it has funded and achieved, there is more it can do to draw together the findings of its research.61