Who we are
Neutral Host Networks CIC is based in Bath. As a CIC, we are constituted and asset-locked to deliver public benefit — the reason councils, combined authorities and government departments can work with us as a mission-driven infrastructure delivery partner rather than a purely commercial vendor.
NHN established a 5G Open RAN integration and support base at Newark Works, Bath, including lab, testing and training facilities. It is where multi-vendor Open RAN equipment is integrated and proven before it reaches a street pole, a market hall or a conservation-area rooftop.
The same facility underpinned live deployments on the ONE WORD 5G project, where NHN was a named research-organisation partner.
NHN trained two apprentices, Ben and Reuben, from minimal networking knowledge into confident mobile network engineers working on live 5G standalone deployments. Building domestic Open RAN skills is part of the public benefit case for neutral host: the UK cannot scale shared infrastructure it has no one to install and operate.
On ONE WORD, NHN worked on technical integration and deployment, and — critically — the commercial and policy side of neutral host that is still missing industry-wide. That included establishing policy and commercial strategies for neutral hosting and building deployment capacity with local authorities so councils can specify, permit and host shared mobile network infrastructure with confidence.
Policy & standards work →