Additional funding of £7 million has been secured by Glasgow City Region in a bid to help with the expansion of 5G provision across the eight council areas.

The funding aims to help the city region stay “at the forefront of the UK’s digital revolution” by using cutting-edge technology to transform social care and improve public sector services.

Earlier this week, the UK Government Secretary of State Peter Kyle announced a one-year funding extension of Glasgow City Region’s Smart and Connected Social Places programme which looks to help with digital transformation in Social Housing and Health and Social Care.

Glasgow will share a further funding pot of £7 million along with other 5G Innovation Regions, building on the original £36 million programme that kicked off in 2023.

Led by Glasgow City Region and backed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the Smart and Connected Social Places programme strives to transform services and improve lives.

An exercise to map mobile phone connectivity across the Region is allowing residents to access a free, easy-to-use tool to understand which mobile networks provide the fastest speeds outside their homes, businesses or other locations of interest.

The largest mobile phone coverage survey in Scotland is being carried out across Glasgow City Region with the assistance of bin lorries which are hosting equipment to gather data about the strength of signal from the UK’s four mobile operators, street by street while people’s bins are being emptied.

Residents will be able to see the signal strength that EE, Vodafone, Three and O2/Virgin Media offer within a 30-metre radius outside of their homes/businesses.

The study will help to identify areas that have little or no mobile coverage and data will be used to lobby providers to make wireless technology improvements to allow individuals and organisations to make informed decisions about which providers to choose.

Chair of the Glasgow City Region Cabinet and Leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken said: “Glasgow City Region has always been at the forefront of technology and innovation and I’m delighted to see how the creative use of digital technology is improving lives.

“The extension to our 5G innovation programme is already helping local people to live more independently, improving public services for tenants and giving residents and businesses access to data to help make more informed choices about technology.”

Find out more at the 5G Innovation and Connectivity Showcase event this week at the SEC. Registration and event details are available here.

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