Alderley Park is a life-sciences campus in Cheshire in the north-west of England, occupying more than 1 million square feet.
BT today announced its first neutral host contract in the UK, with Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General.
As part of the deal, BT will bring EE’s 4G network to Cheshire’s Alderley Park, the UK’s largest single site life science campus. It is home to more than 200 enterprises, including organisations such as Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and the Medicines Discovery Catapult.
The neutral host solution is designed to bring reilable indoor connectivity to a range of buildings with one network infrastructure supporting all mobile operators, rather than each one having to deploy infrastructure, which takes up space, is costly and time consuming.
Important to business
BT says indoor service and reliable connectivity are fast becoming an important to businesses, with mobile usage inside buildings expected to increase to 90% in the next few years. BT is also deploying the single neutral host model for Emergency Services Network (ESN) services.
BT’s EE is the first to switch on mobile cellular voice and data services for on-site customers at Alderley Park, which has more than
In the coming weeks, BT will be working with the UK’s other mobile operators to secure their support for Alderley Park customers. BT and Bruntwood SciTech will also be exploring emerging technology solutions across additional commercial properties including co-creation around IoT and 5G access for businesses on site.
Always-on
“We recognise that a reliable, always-on mobile connection is essential for today’s businesses, particularly as they are increasingly connecting from indoor locations,” says Dean Terry, Managing Director, Corporate and Public Sector, BT’s Enterprise unit.
Kath Mackay, Managing Director, Bruntwood SciTech, says: “Collaboration is at the heart of the Alderley Park community and so it’s great to be supporting a digital solution with the same ethos at its core. As the life science sector focuses more on complex data analysis with enhanced connectivity requirements, it’s vital that we work together with industry leaders, like BT, to provide the best solutions for science and tech businesses to enable them to flourish.”