Bristol is Open

Name

Bristol is Open

Legal name

Bristol Is Open Ltd

Website

https://bristolisopen.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Smart City Research Infrastructure

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Testing Laboratories and Services (541380)

SIC

Communications Services, Nec (4899), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Edge Networking & SD-WAN/uCPE for Edge Sites (HDABAOAE)

Keywords

• Smart city infrastructure
• Research testbed services
• Software defined networking
• IoT platform testing
• 5G wireless research

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Government/Funding: Primary funding from government programmes including DCMS Super Connected Cities programme (£5.3m initial), EU Horizon 2020 projects, and Bristol City Council investment. Additional funding leverage for partner organisations pursuing research grants.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Bristol is Open operates a city-scale research and development testbed combining a fibre ring network, wide-area wireless mesh, IoT sensors, 5G/Massive MIMO infrastructure, and an immersive Data Dome visualization facility. It provides 'city-experimentation-as-a-service' enabling companies, researchers, and public sector partners to test smart city applications, SDN/IoT solutions, and next-generation wireless technologies in a real-world urban environment.

Product overview

Bristol Is Open is a joint venture between Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol offering a city-scale smart city research and development testbed. The core offering is a programmable city infrastructure combining fibre optic networks, wireless mesh networks, and distributed IoT sensors across Bristol. Key components include the City-Scale R&D Testbed Infrastructure (fibre ring with nodes at major city landmarks), the Data Dome (3D immersive visualization facility), the 5G Smart City Testbed, and the Massive MIMO Testbed (128-antenna system for 5G research). The platform enables academics and companies to test smart city applications and services in real-world urban environments through 'experimentation-as-a-service'.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• City-Scale R&D Testbed Infrastructure A city-wide digital research and development platform consisting of a fibre ring linked to central nodes (We The Curious, Watershed, Engine Shed, University of Bristol), wide-area wireless mesh network, and distributed IoT sensors monitoring energy, air quality, temperature, humidity, and traffic flows. Provides experimentation-as-a-service for academics, technology companies, and public sector bodies to test smart city applications in a real-world urban environment.
• Data Dome UK's only 3D 4K immersive hemispherical display system housed at At-Bristol Science Centre's Planetarium and connected to a dedicated high-performance computer at University of Bristol, enabling real-time visualization of city-scale data for research, gaming, learning, and citizen engagement purposes.
• 5G Smart City Testbed 5G-enabled city infrastructure for testing smart city applications including 5G simulation, network slicing, and mmWave/Massive MIMO technologies, including thermal-camera safety demonstrations at Bristol Harbourside.
• Massive MIMO Testbed 128-antenna massive MIMO system operating at 3.5GHz carrier frequency supporting up to 12 simultaneous single-antenna clients, achieving 1.59 Gbit/s throughput in a 20MHz channel (79.4 bit/s/Hz bandwidth efficiency).

Quantifiable outcome

• 12-fold spectrum efficiency improvement demonstrated with Massive MIMO 5G technology
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• West of England Combined Authority (WECA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Led 5G Smart Tourism project bringing together 25 organisations. Project management and funding body for 5G testbed development across Bristol and Bath. £10m DCMS investment for 5G trials.
• Zeetta NetworkscoreTechnology or Integration · 12 October 2016Cooperation agreement for deployment of NetOS platform in Bristol Is Open's city-wide smart city testbed. NetOS provides multi-tenant, multi-technology software platform enabling 'Experimentation-as-a-Service'. Extended from REPLICATE project collaboration.
• NokiaflagshipTechnology or Integration · 11 October 2016Long-term partnership for 5G and smart city technology development. Nokia contributes funding, technical staff, and Nokia Bell Labs expertise. Initial focus on video analytics from Bristol's 1,700+ CCTV cameras. Trial, test and demonstrate new emerging capabilities on Bristol Is Open's city-scale digital R&D network.
• University of LundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 March 2016Collaborative research on Massive MIMO 5G technology achieving world record 12-fold spectrum efficiency improvement. Joint LuMaMi testbed enabling parallel development. Collaboration included five Bristol PhD students and seven Lund PhD students.
• National Instruments (NI)coreTechnology or Integration · 23 March 2016Provided flexible prototyping platform (LabVIEW and PXI hardware) enabling Massive MIMO demonstration. Partnership supporting Bristol Is Open's 5G wireless research infrastructure and reference design system development.
• NEC CorporationflagshipTechnology or Integration · 10 February 2016Long-term partnership for open programmable city development. NEC provides SDN-compatible switches, LTE small cells, and iPASOLINK microwave systems. Collaboration to create open solutions for urban challenges including traffic congestion, air pollution, waste management, and energy supply.
• TM ForumcoreOthers · 19 January 2016Member of Smart City Forum Leadership Team alongside G7 smart city leaders. TM Forum is global industry association for digital business connecting enterprises, service providers, and technology suppliers. Platform for collaboration on smart city standards and rapid proof-of-concept projects.
• EU REPLICATE ProjectflagshipOthers · 1 January 2016€25m Horizon 2020 Lighthouse City consortium (Bristol, San Sebastián, Florence) creating integrated smart city solutions for traffic congestion, air quality, and unsustainable energy use. Major EU funding for smart city innovation.
• EU BigClouT ProjectminorOthers · 1 January 2016EU Horizon 2020 project contributing to Bristol's smart city research capabilities. Part of portfolio of EU projects helping organisations leverage grant funding.
• InterDigital EuropeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2015Joined Bristol Is Open programmable city project as partner. InterDigital is a mobile technology R&D company contributing to smart city technology development.
• Rolls-RoycecoreTechnology or Integration · 17 November 2015Project Partner in UK's first interactive Data Dome. Investigating use of immersive hemispherical display system for high-end visualization of products and associated big data. Sponsored buffet and networking session at Data Dome launch.
• Open Data Institute (ODI)coreOthers · 17 November 2015Selected Bristol as network node in worldwide open data project. ODI node provides workshops, training, and brings together local communities around open data. Among 22 global nodes including Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, Seoul, Paris.
• Open Networking Foundation (ONF)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2015Non-profit organization supporting open SDN adoption. Bristol serves as important source for ONF in development of IoT-specific standards. Hosted workshop on 'The Software Defined Network – Programmable City' with ONF executive director.
• Bristol City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015Joint venture partner and primary infrastructure owner. Bristol City Council provides city-owned fibre network, duct infrastructure, and governance framework. Council data controller for data protection purposes. Strategic partner in establishing Bristol as smart city testbed.
• University of BristolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015Joint venture partner providing academic expertise, research infrastructure (High Performance Networks Group, Smart Internet Lab), and technical leadership. University provides SDN technology development and 5G research capabilities.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Signify (formerly Philips Lighting): Global lighting and IoT incumbent with a dedicated smart city connected lighting and sensor portfolio (Interact City). Comparable as a broad incumbent monetising city-scale IoT infrastructure via municipal partnerships.
• Cisco (Smart City / IoT): Global networking incumbent offering smart city and IoT solutions (e.g., Cisco Kinetic for Cities). Comparable as a broad incumbent providing programmable city infrastructure that overlaps with Bristol Is Open's SDN-based offering.
• NEC Corporation: Global ICT vendor and active Bristol Is Open Flagship partner providing SDN switches, LTE small cells, and microwave systems. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering programmable city and smart city infrastructure at scale.
• Huawei (Smart City): Global ICT vendor publishing the Smart City Index that ranked Bristol first in 2017. Comparable as a broad incumbent providing end-to-end smart city solutions globally and competing for the same municipal customers.
• Nokia: Global network equipment vendor and active Bristol Is Open Flagship partner. Comparable as an incumbent offering end-to-end 5G and smart city solutions at global scale, with overlapping customer base in telecom carriers and municipalities.
• Siemens (Smart Infrastructure / MindSphere): Global industrial and infrastructure incumbent with dedicated smart city and IoT platform (MindSphere). Comparable as a broad incumbent addressing the same municipal and enterprise smart city customers with commercial-scale offerings.
• IBM (Smarter Cities): Global technology incumbent with a dedicated Smarter Cities programme and analytics platform. Comparable as a broad incumbent targeting urban digital transformation customers that overlap with Bristol Is Open's municipal segment.

Emerging players

• Worldsensing: Barcelona-headquartered IoT company providing wireless sensor networks for smart city, mining, and infrastructure monitoring. Comparable as a focused smart city infrastructure player with city-scale deployment experience, smaller in scale than BIO's full-stack testbed.

Direct peers

• Digital Catapult: UK government-backed technology innovation platform operating testbeds for emerging technologies including IoT and 5G. Comparable as a publicly-funded, R&D-focused innovation platform providing experimentation infrastructure to corporate and academic partners.
• Connected Places Catapult: UK government-backed innovation centre focused on urban innovation, mobility, and smart places. Directly comparable as a publicly-funded UK innovation platform targeting city-scale technology deployment and corporate partnerships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/BristolIsOpen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bristol-is-open

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Bristol is Open