Virgin Media O2 has completed initial trials for a government-backed 5G project which aims to run a new secure network capability for integrating public and private networks.

The 5G DRIVE (Diversified oRAN Integration and Vendor Evaluation) project is led by Virgin Media O2 and part funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The aim of 5G DRIVE is to provide a way for tier two radio access network (RAN) vendors to enter the market with their products and support the government’s 5G diversification strategy.

The company claims that the trials show the project is “simple, scalable and secure”. The next phase of the programme will involve further trials to develop an ‘Ori’ containerised core network and further investigate the scaling aspects of private and public 5G roaming.

The trials will end with several simulated corporate customers, with 5G private networks deployed using multiple access edge computing.

Commenting on the news Dr David Owens, head of technical trials at Virgin Media O2 and the 5G DRIVE project lead, said: “This is a significant first step in our mission to create new solutions that provide vendor agnostic integration capability, driving forward the secure connectivity for private networks, and helping to deliver on the promise of 5G “network of networks. The ambition of the 5G DRIVE project is that it will provide a scalable solution, that doesn’t impact public networks and will deliver carrier grade security, something we are all incredibly excited about.”

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