Academic excellence
meets real-world need.
An international experimentation platform built to test future networks at scale.
Why
Large scale experimentation has long been the missing link between research and deployment. JOINER closes that gap by providing a shared infrastructure where advanced connectivity prototypes can be turned into deployment-ready solutions.
What
JOINER is the UK’s only open, international-scale experimentation platform for future networks research, development and innovation. It combines infrastructure, spectrum capability, cloud-edge systems, AI-ready compute and NTN environments across 15+ universities and labs into one interoperable ecosystem.
How
We experiment. We collaborate. We innovate. JOINER enables organisations to assemble, test and stress-test end-to-end systems across real-world environments. We advance commercialisation by producing the benchmark evidence industry, investors and government need to move faster to deployment.
About JOINER.
OINER is an international experimentation platform where UK research excellence meets real-world need. Find out how we’re enabling the future of communications now through experimentation, collaboration, and innovation.
Our services.
JOINER provides open access to shared experimentation infrastructure and specialist facilities across AI, spectrum, NTN, cloud-edge systems and secure networking.
The platform is designed to support research, deployment validation, interoperability testing, standards evidence and next-generation telecoms innovation at scale.
News.
Connected Futures Festival coming to Bristol
JOINER is delighted to announce the Connected Futures Festival coming to Bristol on 26 March 2025 with satellite locations in London, Cambridge and Belfast.Find out more about this existing event, including how to apply, here.
December 20, 2024
Connected Futures Festival: 6G Demos
We’re pleased to announce the full set of 6G demonstrations that will be taking place in Bristol for the Connected Futures Festival:
January 9, 2025
Connected Futures Festival: 6G Demos at Belfast
The Connected Futures Festival, taking place on the 26 of March, will showcase a number of exciting demonstrations of potential 6G capabilities. We’re pleased to confirm that the following demos have now been confirmed for Belfast:
February 17, 2025
The UK’s National Platform for Future Telecoms Innovation
JOINER isn’t just a platform—it’s a launchpad for innovation. Watch to learn more about how we’re shaping the networks of tomorrow.
March 7, 2025
JOINER’s highlights from the Connected Futures Festival
Open discussion, frank debates and mindblowing demos: JOINER’s highlights from the Connected Futures Festival
March 31, 2025
Spotlight on IEEE DySPAN 2025
DySPAN 2025, the premier international conference on spectrum innovation, was held in London from May 12th to 16th at King’s College London. The event focused on advancing spectrum innovation to meet the growing demands for wireless capacity across diverse applications; DSIT, Ofcom, UK Spectrum Policy Forum, Digital Catapult, and international collaborators supported it. The week-long […]
May 19, 2025
JOINER and SONIC Labs announce support of the UK Digital Industrial Strategy ambition
University of Bristol (Smart Internet Lab) and Digital Catapult are proud to support the Industrial Strategy’s focus on Advanced Connectivity Technologies as the backbone of the UK’s critical national infrastructure, supporting advancements in UK digital transformation and use of data driven and open future networks to shape the future of digital infrastructure. To truly unlock […]
June 23, 2025
Join up to JOINER – we officially launch
On 24 June at the impressive Wills Memorial building in Bristol, JOINER was officially launched to industry. A significant milestone in JOINER’s journey, the day was an opportunity for exploration, discussion and networking. Ros Singleton, Chair of the JOINER advisory board explained that “JOINER is going to be foundational for so many developments over the coming years, generating new businesses and tech. As we move beyond academia, things …
June 30, 2025
Introducing JOINER’s nerve centre: The JOINER Brain
One of JOINER’s greatest benefits — that it’s open to all — presents a unique challenge when it comes to providing and managing user access.
August 6, 2025
Reflecting on a Milestone Year (so far) for JOINER
As summer comes to a close and we look ahead to Q4, it’s a good moment to take a breath and reflect on what has already been a landmark year for JOINER.
August 21, 2025
Introducing JOINER’s AI Acceleration Facility.
Professor Dimitra Simeonidou
September 29, 2025
JOINER connects its first international node, in Ireland.
The connection of a new node in Dublin has marked a significant milestone for the JOINER project. Hosted by researchers at Trinity College Dublin, the Irish outpost represents the first international expansion of the JOINER platform — opening up new potential for innovation, as CONNECT Centre Director, Professor Dan Kilper explains.
September 29, 2025
JOINER’s National Spectrum Facility is open for business
Spectrum is the lifeblood of wireless communications. And as network demands have rapidly increased over the past two decades, our sector has been compelled to pursue more creative ways to maximise the potential of what is, ultimately, a finite resource. However, thinking of spectrum as a resource that we might one day ‘run out’ of is, I believe, misleading.
October 16, 2025
Introducing JOINER’s Non-Terrestrial Networks Facility
JOINER doesn’t have any of its own “white-box” satellites for research experiments (not yet, at least). So instead, we’ve developed a facility to provide as close to the real thing as you can get without launching into space. And JOINER’s Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) Emulation Facility is about as close to space as you can get without rocket fuel.
October 16, 2025
JOINER Wins AI Award for High Tech & Telecom
We’re delighted to share that JOINER has won the “AI Award for High Tech & Telecom” at the 2025 AI Awards, recognising our leadership in driving AI innovation across the UK’s telecoms ecosystem.
October 21, 2025
FTH Advanced Connectivity Showcase – 1st December, London
Join the Federated Telecoms Hubs for a high impact expo that places you at the centre of the UK’s advanced connectivity research ecosystem. Designed for industry leaders and investors, this event showcases groundbreaking research and innovations.
November 6, 2025
CSA Catapult joins JOINER Network to convert research into sovereign capability for AI-driven and quantum-secure telecoms application
Having received £16m funding from the EPSRC Future Communications Platforms and other Future Networks R&D initiatives such as DSIT and Innovate UK, the University of Bristol have led the design of a heterogeneous, multi-site architecture platform that can pull huge amounts of complex data to test deployment in real-world environments.
February 2, 2026
Scaling AI in Telco Networks: How BT Is Advancing LLM Innovation with JOINER
Throughout my career, one phrase that’s always stuck in my mind is ‘‘test a lot and learn quickly’’.
February 24, 2026
Connecting to an AI future: JOINER @ MWC 26
We’re delighted to share details on our presence at MWC Barcelona. Innovations on show will include telecom networks as an alternative to hyperscale data centres for AI large language models (LLMs), showcasing the monitoring capabilities of the JOINER National Spectrum Facility and holographic telepresence across Europe.
February 24, 2026
New partnership sets stage for next -generation of communication innovation
The JOINER Platform has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) establishing a formal partnership to support collaboration and joint experimentation between the two world-leading research organisations.
March 2, 2026
JOINER named in landmark MOU between UK and Ireland
Last week the UK Government announced a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ireland, naming the JOINER open experimentation platform as a key pillar of bilateral cooperation on future networks, 6G research and digital resilience.
March 17, 2026
AgenticAI with Madevo
Madevo and JOINER have partnered to develop autonomous AI agents for real telecom and data centre operations.
May 7, 2026
Resilient TN/NTN integration and orchestration.
The University of Bristol, working through the JOINER Platform, has developed and is validating a predictive path-switching framework for resilient multimedia streaming over integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
May 7, 2026
JOINER National Spectrum Facility.
JOINER’s National Spectrum Facility (JNSF) provides a UK-wide, measurement-driven research infrastructure designed to transform spectrum from a constrained and statically allocated resource into a continuously observable and intelligently managed system.
May 7, 2026
Secure, Programmable Networks for Smart Grids and Critical Infrastructure.
Learn how the University of Glasgow and partners are using JOINER to build secure programmable networks for smart grids and critical infrastructure, tackling the challenges of legacy protocols, limited visibility, operational risk and poor data access.