Bespoke 5G Enabled Immersive Classroom

Welsh Government are lead delivery partners for a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) grant-funded 5G Testbed and Trials programme, called 5G Wales Unlocked. The 5G Wales Unlocked consortium includes BT, Cisco, Cardiff University, Monmouthshire CC, Blaenau Gwent CBC, UtterBerry, AppyWay and Jam Creative who are working together through a partnership agreement to deliver user demonstrations and solutions utilising 5G mobile technology.

5G Wales Unlocked is a research and innovation programme looking to create new services, combine products, develop novel solutions to demonstrate the capabilities and potential offered by 5G technology. The objective of the programme is to test and trial new 5G mobile technology ‘use cases’ across Education, Tourism, the Rural Economy and Transport – aiming to demonstrate the business case for accelerating the deployment of mobile technology in valley and rural locations.

This is the award notice following the Welsh Government procuring a novel and innovative ‘5G enabled classroom’ through one of the consortium partners (BT). The classroom will be a stand-alone, semi-permanent physical structure with a range of interactive technology and IT equipment connected over a 5G network allowing real time interaction with other connected sites and equipment which are also a part of the project.

Requirement:

The bespoke Classroom requires a number of partners collaborating in a unique way as part of the research and innovation. In developing solutions, BT will provide some of the key components of the Classroom.

The requirement is for:

• a 360 degree ‘content capable’ Immersive Classroom
• the Classroom to connect to a 5G network
• access to a live, commercial 5G network in Ebbw Vale
• access to and analysis of data from the Classroom across the 5G network, at both the content and network layers
• integration of additional, specific Cisco technology (supplied as a project partner) into the Classroom to extend its capability and reach to selected schools, requiring a Cisco channel partner
• a rapid deployment, seeking live operation in September 2021

Whilst Welsh Government is interested in innovating on new services which have potential beyond this project, this procurement is restricted to this project only with no planned subsequent objectives or expenditure.