Register your interest in our 5G Funding Competition

The Belfast 5G Innovation Region (5GIR) programme, led by Belfast City Council’s City Innovation Office, is working with businesses, academia and the public sector to support the adoption of 5G and other advanced wireless networks in the Belfast Region.

Advanced wireless networks are key to the development of innovative products and services across a range of industry sectors including health, manufacturing, transport and logistics, creative industries, and public services.

Belfast 5GIR Funding Competition

To drive 5G adoption, we are planning to launch a Belfast Region-wide funding competition that is expected to offer grants of up to £100,000 to support projects making use of 5G and other advanced wireless connectivity.

We are currently finalising the details of the competition and are keen to hear your ideas about the types of use cases you think could be funded.

Register your interest in the 5G Funding Competition

The competition will be open to applicants in the Belfast Region City Deal council areas: Antrim and Newtownabbey, Ards and North Down, Belfast, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Mid and East Antrim, and Newry, Mourne and Down.
The competition is due to launch in August 2024 and close in September 2024.
Projects/use cases will commence in October 2024 and must be completed by March 2025.
The funding aims to support projects which make use of 5G or other advanced wireless mobile communications technology to develop and implement use cases which deliver outcomes and drive economic growth in the Belfast Region area.
Competition applicants must be the solution user. Although users may partner with suppliers, suppliers may not apply on behalf of their customers.
We envisage that the competition’s grants will fund the capital costs of operational uses cases for 5G and advanced wireless connectivity. The competition will not fund trials; it is for the implementation of live solutions in a real-world setting.

Full competition details and criteria will be published when the competition opens in August 2024.

About the Belfast 5G Innovation Region programme

The Belfast 5GIR programme aims to make sure that our local businesses and organisations in the Belfast Region are well-placed to harness advanced wireless connectivity to help grow the economy.

We are developing resources and plans to ensure that the region becomes a leader in advanced wireless adoption. We are also working with partners to deliver a series of commercially focused use cases that leverage 5G’s potential.

5G Film Anywhere (Ulster University and Studio Ulster)
Unlocking ‘5G-in-a-box’ technology to connect screen production teams, filming in remote locations, to production studios in real-time via a high-capacity 5G private network.

5G Port (Belfast Harbour)
Harnessing 5G-led innovations to accelerate the digitisation of port operations including automatic bulk freight handling and safety improvements.

5G Transport (Translink)
Exploiting advanced wireless connectivity to enable enhanced operations and network planning along the Glider bus routes.
5G Construction (Queen’s University’s Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre)
Harnessing 5G, Building Information Modelling, Digital Twin technology and Augmented Reality to support the design and construction of a state-of-the-art Factory of the Future.

The Belfast 5G Innovation Region programme and funding competition is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as part of their UK 5G Innovation Regions programme. The programme aims to drive innovative applications powered by 5G.