Aerix-led consortium wins GBP £3.1m for private 5G

A consortium led by Aerix has launched the MOSAIC-5G project, securing more than GBP £3.1 million in Innovate UK funding.

The project brings together eight UK organisations to build an integrated private 5G system using domestic technology. Alongside Aerix, the consortium includes Antevia Networks, Spry Fox Networks, Noema Signal Labs, Attocore, RANsemi, Liverpool 5G and Bath & North East Somerset Council.

MOSAIC-5G, short for Multi-vendor Open System Architecture for Integrated Connectivity, is intended to address a persistent obstacle in the commercial rollout of UK-developed 5G products. While individual components have advanced, combining them into deployable systems has remained complex, making wider adoption harder for businesses.

The programme will integrate Antevia's 5G SHIFT private network, Attocore's 5G core and Aerix's management and service assurance platform into a single standalone private 5G network. The aim is to produce a system that can be deployed in hours rather than weeks and managed through a single interface.

The wider technical stack also includes Noema Signal Labs' NL-COMM signal-processing framework, Antevia's iConn management platform with AI-agent network operations, Spry Fox Networks' QuantumPath service assurance tools, Attocore's 5G core with edge break-out, and RANsemi's UK-designed acceleration hardware.

The full programme is valued at GBP £4.3 million and will run for 18 months. Backed through the SNPN 5G Assured Integration competition, it is expected to create eight new high-skilled roles.

Validation sites

The integrated system will be tested at three locations: an industrial robotics field trial with Extend Robotics, Aerix's 18-cell outdoor 5G network in Bath operated with Bath & North East Somerset Council, and Digital Catapult's laboratory in London.

The trials are intended to show whether a multi-vendor private 5G network can operate as a unified product rather than a collection of separate elements. The question has become more pressing as businesses assess private wireless networks for industrial, operational and site-wide connectivity needs.

Private 5G has attracted interest from manufacturers, logistics operators and public sector users seeking greater control over coverage, resilience and security than public mobile networks typically provide. Yet deployment often depends on integration work across radio access equipment, core software, management tools and assurance systems, slowing adoption and increasing costs.

MOSAIC-5G is built on the idea that a sovereign UK supply chain could reduce that friction if the different parts are proven to work together in a repeatable way. The involvement of multiple domestic suppliers also reflects broader policy interest in expanding the UK telecoms vendor base.

Dr Peter Gradwell, Chief Executive Officer, Aerix, said: "Deploying private 5G today means stitching together fragmented vendor tools. MOSAIC-5G will prove that UK technology can do better - a complete, sovereign, multi-vendor network that goes live in hours and is managed from one screen. It's a statement of what the UK's 5G ecosystem can deliver when it works as one."

For Antevia, the project is focused on making private cellular systems easier for enterprises to buy and operate. Its software and network platform form a central part of the integrated design.

Simon Cosgrove, Chief Executive Officer, Antevia Networks, said: "Private 5G will only achieve widespread adoption when it becomes as straightforward to deploy and operate as any other piece of enterprise infrastructure. MOSAIC-5G is an important step towards that goal, bringing together best-of-breed UK technologies to deliver a complete, interoperable system that removes the complexities traditionally associated with private cellular."

Integration focus

Spry Fox Networks is acting as systems integrator for the programme, placing it at the centre of the work to connect the vendors' products and verify that they operate consistently across the trial environments.

Stuart Waine, Director, Spry Fox Networks, said: "Assured interoperability is the difference between a demo and a product. By testing integration continuously from day one across three real-world sites, we'll give enterprises the confidence that a multi-vendor UK solution simply works."