Verizon operates six 5G Innovation Hubs in the U.S. and one in London
Verizon Business has rolled out the latest in its series of 5G Innovation Hubs, this time at the University of Illinois Research Park. At the Research Park’s headquarters, students, startups and large corporations will develop and test 5G-enabled solutions, specifically in areas such as 5G for machine learning, IoT, robotics, artificial intelligence, guided vehicles, drones, manufacturing process automation, virtual reality and data analytics.
This research and innovation will be powered by Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service, which is the operator’s branded 5G service that is currently available in parts of 36 cities.
Tami Erwin, EVP and CEO of Verizon Business said that Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service will “enhance applications for industries ranging from agriculture to manufacturing” thanks to its “super-fast speeds, increased bandwidth and low latency.”
“The Research Park is an ideal location for our latest 5G Innovation Hub serving as an environment that cultivates startups, and inspires collaboration among various corporate partners and students to spur creativity and accelerate the innovation process,” she continued.
From the perspective Dr. Susan Martinis, vice chancellor of research and innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the establishment of the 5G innovation center will accelerate the research center’s development of technology capable of harnessing 5G’s potential.
“The importance of 5G innovation and its impact to our campus and private sector partners in the Research Park is immeasurable,” she said. “We are proud to have the first such innovation hub at a university research park or incubator and believe it will enhance our technology community and campus as a whole.”
As mentioned earlier, this innovation hub is just one of several. In fact, Verizon operates six 5G Labs in the U.S. and one in London that specialize in developing uses cases in a variety of industries. Verizon has also set up a number of on-premise 5G Innovation Hubs, such as the one in Atlanta, where the operator partnered with Emory Healthcare in a move to develop and test 5G use cases in the medical field.