BAI Communications Partners With Mavenir to Deliver Sunderland’s Smart City Project
10.1.2022 11:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native software that runs on any cloud and transforms the way the world connects, today announced that BAI Communications (BAI), a global communications infrastructure provider, will be launching a Smart City project for Sunderland City Council in the north of England (UK), powered by Mavenir’s MAVedge solution.
BAI Communications will build a new 5G centric network to accelerate adoption of transformative digital services for sectors including manufacturing and logistics, education and social care. The initial scope is for the deployment of a city-centre 5G private network which has the potential to evolve and become a neutral host network.
Neutral host models provide coverage and connectivity for smart city initiatives. They enable local councils and authorities to provide smart services and run numerous smart community applications in a more viable and cost-effective manner.
MAVedge comprises Mavenir’s leading edge Open vRAN and 5G Packet Core solutions to drive the next generation digital transformation of this Smart City project, and to provide advanced 5G mobile connectivity to the local Sunderland community. MAVedge enables secure private networks to be distributed at the edge and powers a digital marketplace of applications and devices to create an efficient environment for diverse use cases for the enterprise and industry.
The 5G Open vRAN and 5G Packet Core solutions are designed with cloud-native virtualisation techniques providing a fully scalable and virtualised network architecture with open standard interfaces. The Open RAN platform provides BAI Communications the option of deploying radio units from different vendors. The solution uses software running on commercial off the shelf (COTS) hardware that provides cost effectiveness, flexibility and agility, whilst delivering one architecture as a baseline for many different use cases.
The new network will help accelerate transformation within various sectors in Sunderland including:
- Smart Homes: addressing health and social care requirements supporting vulnerable individuals living in their own homes, providing access to assistive technologies such as sensors and other IoT enabled devices.
- Digital Skills and Education: providing enhanced online and remote connectivity and distance learning across Primary Schools and Secondary Schools within the local authority.
- Manufacturing and Industry 4.0: improving supply chain agility for the automotive industry, including applications such as self-driving vehicles and autonomous heavy goods vehicles.
“Open RAN is a cost-effective solution which is based on open interfaces and will give us the ability to deploy in a very agile and flexible way,” said Brendan O’Reilly, Group Chief Technology Officer at BAI Communications. “We are delighted to work with Mavenir, a technology innovator company in cloud-native virtualised solutions and a leading player in the Open RAN initiative and 5G Core. Technology we believe will help accelerate Sunderland’s ambitions to become one of the UK’s most advanced smart cities, connecting people, communities and businesses.”
“BAI Communications represents an ideal partner for this prestigious smart city project in Sunderland. Together, we will be able to build new RAN and Packet Core domains that will deliver the flexibility needed for a diverse set of cross-sector use cases. Virtualised solutions from Mavenir are the perfect choice of technology with Open vRAN and Cloud-Native Packet Core. The objective is to automate operations and flex the scalability in neutral hosting architecture, whilst delivering benefits not only to enterprises and business users, but also for the wider community,” said Stefano Cantarelli, Chief Marketing Officer at Mavenir.
“We are creating a new digital fabric for Sunderland’s City, upon which the City’s digital and business entrepreneurs can build – a portfolio of new digital services for the benefits of residents, businesses and visitors,” says Andrew Conway, Director of Solutions and Innovation at BAI Communications UK.
Liz St Louis, Assistant Director of Smart Cities at Sunderland City Council, said, “We have long recognised the importance of technology in connecting people and realising opportunities to position Sunderland as a digital frontrunner. This new partnership between BAI Communications and Mavenir presents a fully scalable network architecture to unlock innovation and shape the future of our leading smart city.
“Together, we are harnessing the power of technology and digital transformation for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors to Sunderland. The new network will accelerate the emergence of more smart services including community applications, digital upskilling opportunities and efficiency drives for our advanced manufacturing clusters across the city.”
About Mavenir:
Mavenir is building the future of networks and pioneering advanced technology, focusing on the vision of a single, software-based automated network that runs on any cloud. As the industry's only end-to-end, cloud-native network software provider, Mavenir is focused on transforming the way the world connects, accelerating software network transformation for 250+ Communications Service Providers in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the world’s subscribers. www.mavenir.com
About BAI Communications:
BAI Communications is a world leader in shared communications infrastructure, pioneering solutions that empower our customers to advance their services, accelerate their networks and amplify their reach in the most efficient and cost-effective ways possible. Having long been at the forefront of network advancement, BAI is harnessing fibre, spearheading the transition from 4G/LTE, accelerating 5G and preparing for 6G – and beyond. We collaborate closely with our customers in MNOs, government, transit, enterprise, broadcasting and venues to realise their communications vision, focusing not just on the immediate future, but on the possibilities that exist over long-term partnerships. Our global operations span Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and in the United States through BAI Group company, Mobilitie, and majority-owned Transit Wireless. Together, we’re creating smarter communities for all. https://www.baicommunications.com
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220110005089/en/
Contact information
PR Contact Mavenir
Emmanuela Spiteri
PR@mavenir.com
EMEA PR
Kevin Taylor
KTaylor@GlobalResultsPR.com
PR Contact BAI Communications UK:
Roberta de Lima
roberta.delima@baicommunications.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
LTM Launches BlueVerse™ RightLogic to Address Cyber Risk in AI Era6.7.2026 12:12:00 EEST | Press release
LTM, the Business Creativity partner to the world’s largest enterprises, has launched BlueVerse™ RightLogic, a cybersecurity assessment and risk assurance framework designed to help enterprises identify, assess and remediate cyber exposure as they accelerate AI adoption. AI is now capable of autonomously identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities, while exposure across infrastructure, applications and supply chains continue to expand. This has elevated cyber risk from a technology concern to a board-level priority, with enterprises struggling to maintain visibility and respond at the speed of emerging threats. BlueVerse RightLogic addresses this gap by providing a unified, business-aligned view of enterprise exposure and enabling a shift from fragmented, point-in-time assessments to continuous, evidence-led risk management. The framework combines an end-to-end AI and cyber exposure assessment engine with a structured execution model that spans from assessment to remediation. At the cor
Media Release: Financial Worries Rise and Match Health Concerns as Cost-of-Living Pressures Mount in 20266.7.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Households around the world are feeling the strain of the rising cost of living, with financial pressure increasingly shaping everyday choices and long-term confidence. Finances and health are now tied as the top global worries, at 48% each, followed by concerns about the future at 35%, according to consumer surveys in 10 countries published in “The Allianz 3am Report 2026.” This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260703907741/en/ Allianz / IPSOS “What Worries the World” Study, April – June 2026. Financial worries, which include concerns about “rising cost of living” (71%) and “insufficient income” (51%), increased in seven out of eight countries surveyed year over year, moving up in the ranking of top three worries in Brazil, France, Germany, and the U.K., while remaining stable in Italy. The strongest increases are observed in Australia and Indonesia, where financial concerns have remained the leading worry, as well
HAZAMA ANDO Becomes an Official Partner in Helical Fusion’s Commercial Fusion Initiative and Signs MoU Toward Construction of the Fusion Pilot Plant6.7.2026 09:40:00 EEST | Press release
Helical Fusion Co., Ltd. (“Helical Fusion”), a Japan-based fusion energy startup developing fusion power plants, and HAZAMA ANDO CORPORATION (“HAZAMA ANDO”), a long-established Japanese general contractor, today announced that HAZAMA ANDO has become an Official Partner in the Helix Program, Helical Fusion’s commercial fusion initiative. The two companies have also signed a memorandum of understanding (“MoU”) to collaborate toward the construction of Helix KANATA, Helical Fusion’s Fusion Pilot Plant targeted for the 2030s. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260706176052/en/ (L-R) Kazuhiko Kuniya (Representative Director and President, HAZAMA ANDO CORPORATION) and Takaya Taguchi (Co-Founder and CEO, Helical Fusion Co., Ltd.) at a press conference in Tokyo on July 6, 2026. Fusion energy has the potential to shift the foundation of energy from natural resources to advanced technology by reproducing, on Earth, the sam
Sofinnova Partners Announces Myricx Bio Agrees to Be Acquired by Novartis6.7.2026 08:15:00 EEST | Press release
Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, today announced that its portfolio company Myricx Bio (“Myricx”) has reached agreement to be acquired by Novartis, for up to $1.5 billion including $1.1 billion cash upfront plus potential milestone payments. This marks Sofinnova Partners' seventh exit in three years. Myricx Bio is a UK-headquartered transatlantic biotech company focused on the discovery and development of a novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates. The company's platform is built around next-generation N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payloads, a differentiated mechanism of action designed to address the narrow therapeutic windows and tolerability challenges that have limited earlier generations of ADCs, such as TOPO-1 and tubulin inhibitor payload classes. Myricx Bio's two lead ADC assets, directed towards the established targets B7-H3 and HER2, are designed to bring this differentiated approach to patients across a broad ra
Global New Material International Wins Technology Innovation Best Practice Award at Sino-European ESG Conference6.7.2026 06:59:00 EEST | Press release
Global New Material International Holdings Ltd. has received the Technology Innovation Best Practice Award at the Third Sino-European Corporate ESG Best Practice Conference recently in Mainz, Germany, in recognition of its efforts to advance sustainable development through material innovation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260705533555/en/ Thorsten Giehler (L), Director of the Economic, Social Development and Employment Division of The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), delivered the award to Zhou Fangchao, Executive Director and Vice President of Global New Material International. The annual conference, initiated by the Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt and jointly organized with Chinese and European partners, recognizes corporate best practices in environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. This year's event brought together government officials, business leaders and exper
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom