Huawei ban fails to dampen plans for UK’s first smart mall

Plans for the UK’s first fully 5G-enabled shopping centre will go ahead, despite the setback of the government’s decision to block project partner Huawei from the UK’s 5G network. Surrey Heath Borough Council teamed up with Huawei UK earlier this year on plans to transform The Square shopping centre in Camberley into a “test bed” for retail innovation. The project follows in the footsteps of the world’s first 5G retail centre, at Shanghai’s Lujiazui L+Mall, as well as Helsinki’s Mall of Tripla. However, the government’s decision to ban Huawei’s 5G kits from the end of this year had cast uncertainty on the project’s future. Although the initiative has undoubtedly suffered a setback from this, plans for the 460,000 sq ft smart mall are still in the works. The council is now in talks with other potential 5G providers on the initiative. A spokeswoman for Surrey Heath Borough Council has confirmed to EG that the council “is still investigating the 5G project” for the shopping centre. She added that its project team is in talks with other vendors to partner with in relation to a bid for up to £30m funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s 5G Create programme. It is understood that Vodafone is the operator behind the project. In the meantime, it is thought that other major parties involved have remained committed to the project. A memorandum of understanding on the project was previously signed by the council, Huawei Technologies, the University of Surrey, Alibaba, Deloitte, StoryFutures at the Royal Holloway University of London, Montagu Evans, Arcom IT, Knowledge Transfer Network, Natta Building Company and the Stuart Fenton Consultancy. The council bought the Camberley shopping centre for £110m in 2018, as part of its regeneration strategy. To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette