Brighton Fibre Ring

Delivery Body: Brighton & Hove City Council

Theme: Digital

Coast to Capital GBF Allocation: £1,440,293.00

Match Funding Contrabution: £225,000.00

Project Status: Delivering

 

Summary of Project

Brighton Research and Innovation Testbed and Fibre Ring (RIFR) will create new high-capability infrastructure to support research and innovation. With scope for immediate commercialisation, the benefits will be focused on SME growth and innovation, with consequent impact on productivity, jobs and post-COVID recovery. This project contributes to a unique ‘distributed innovation zone’ spanning digital-tech sectors in Crawley, Burgess Hill and Brighton, and communities in between.

The ring Fibre ring will be a 5G-ready, shared-access duct infrastructure under the stewardship of Brighton & Hove City Council that links a number of core strategic education, cultural, research and public sector assets. Using an open-access model, the project will enhance business access to Research & Development and innovation centres, significantly augmenting the value generated from the existing 5G-testbed technology. It will allow connections with larger employers, digital and technology SMEs, and the wider public sector.  The project will also deliver an upgrade to the 5G testbed at the Fusebox and Brighton Dome and Corn Exchange, to explore the potential for 5G uses, including in a cultural setting. This facility supports ongoing programmes that build regional capabilities in the application of advanced digital technologies.

The same benefits available to digital-tech businesses will also provide opportunities for public sector bodies to improve their methods of service delivery. Brighton Research and Innovation Testbed and Fibre Ring will remove barriers that stand in the way of innovation and investment and so unlock opportunities for public and private sector stakeholders.

 

 

Key Output

• 19 jobs created and/or safeguarded
• 436 jobs unlocked
• £339,469 of indirect Private Sector Leverage (additional to the match funding)
• 45 businesses assisted
• 10 number of enterprises supported
• 15 number of enterprises assisted to cooperate with research entities/institutions
• 5 number of enterprises supported to introduce new to the market products
• 5 number of enterprises supported to introduce new to the firm products
• 70 businesses with increased knowledge of 5G and the opportunities this technology offers
• 853 businesses addressable with full fibre connections
• £115m productivity increase over 10 years
• 5.7 km of new fibre
• 8 new products and services