Fuelling the UK’s world-leading research and development to deliver unprecedented collaboration and commercial translation in the telecoms sector.

Initiatives

FTH is conducting world-leading research and development across all aspects of the telecoms ecosystem. The combined intellectual power of the hubs, which are convening the top technologists in the UK, helps to stimulate creativity that could not be achieved by any party alone.

However, FTH’s collective value is much more than the sum of its parts. It is a framework for catalysing innovation, and instilling a major shift in mindset amongst academics. To facilitate all of this it will deliver a number of initiatives.

Through JOINER, FTH can validate innovations in a large-scale network, foster skill development, collaboration, and data generation, and enable early testing—accelerating the advancement of 6G and beyond.

FTH is driving more value from intellectual property rights that might otherwise languish in a laboratory, creating a culture in the research community of patent before paper.

This includes our IPR Pool, which logs UK telecoms IP registrations and offers a window into UK academia for commercial operators, and a UK-first framework for assessing IP potential, allocating funding and fast-tracking proofs-of-concept.

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FTH will play a key role in equipping future telecoms professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to drive the next generation of connectivity.

The future of telecoms depends on people. But with growing skills gaps in AI, cloud computing, security, and advanced telecom technologies, the telecoms industry faces a challenge—how do we develop and attract the next generation of talent and future leaders to drive innovation?

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We are engaging with standards bodies to bring new innovations alongside industry partners, and ensure that research produced by members of the FTH can have the greatest possible societal and commercial impact.

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FTH is focused on driving value from the UK’s excellence in R&D, but telecoms is a global industry and the best research is borderless. So all our hubs are already engaging in international collaboration. Together we coordinate these endeavours to drive more opportunities and realise greater ambition.

FTH encompasses four collaborative hubs dedicated to cutting-edge research, unprecedented collaboration, and catalysing telecoms innovation.

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How FTH Is Shaping the Future of Telecoms Skills

The future of telecoms doesn’t just depend on cutting-edge technology – it depends on people. 

As the UK pushes forward with next generation connectivity, from AI powered networks to 6G infrastructure, one challenge looms large: a growing skills gap. The telecoms industry is facing a shortage of talent in critical areas like AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and advanced communications technologies. 

sarah

19 May
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FTH’s Commitment to Global Technology Standards

In today’s hyper connected world, seamless digital experiences – from cloud based services to encrypted communications and satellite navigation – are powered by something often invisible to users: technology standards. Underpinning key aspects of telecommunications systems – interoperability, trust, and reliability.

At the heart of these global networks is a dynamic ecosystem where research meets real world application. And at FTH, we’re proud to play a leading role in that process.

sarah

13 May
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How FTH Accelerates UK Telecoms Innovation

Explore our animated video series showcasing the pioneering work across FTH.

sarah

15 April
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Navigating the Path to 6G: Insights from the 3GPP Workshop on 6G 

On 10-11 March 2025, FTH Standardisation Director, Dr Nik Serafimovski attended the 3GPP 6G Workshop in Incheon, South Korea.  

nikola-serafimovski

10 April

Questions? Get in touch.