T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology, jointly created the 5G Connected Future incubator program, designed to find, evaluate, and help scale startups in that space.
The new 5G incubator is located in the city of Peachtree Corners’ 500-acre, smart city technology park, a living lab powered by T-Mobile 5G where more than 8,000 people live and work. Here developers will build and test new 5G use cases such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, industrial drone applications, mixed reality training and entertainment, remote medical care, personal health and fitness wearables, and more.
The 5G Connected Future vertical — supported by a significant, three-year financial gift to Georgia Tech from both T-Mobile and Curiosity Lab — will be managed by Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state of Georgia’s technology incubator. The 5G vertical is the fourth of its kind at ATDC and follows other gifts used to launch targeted programs in heath, retail, and financial technologies.
“What a match-up! America’s leading 5G network, the brilliants minds of Georgia Tech, and the most advanced living lab in the country – now that’s a powerhouse combination,” said John Saw, EVP of Advanced & Emerging Technologies at T-Mobile. “We cannot wait to see the innovation that occurs as entrepreneurs and developers build the next big thing in 5G backed by these world-class resources.”
The effort is part of the telecommunications giant’s strategy to propel 5G innovation forward by supporting entrepreneurs across of industries and sectors. In 2020 T-Mobile announced its 5G Open Innovation Lab, with Intel and NASA to bring startups, business, academia, and government together to focus on emerging applications that could leverage 5G. The company also launched its T-Mobile Accelerator in 2020, which connects T-Mobile leaders with transformative companies to develop and commercialize new 5G applications.
Companies participating in the 5G Connected Future program will work directly with technology and business leaders at T-Mobile, Georgia Tech and Curiosity Lab as they build, test and bring to market new products and services that unleash the potential of T-Mobile 5G. The program will be run in collaboration with Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a globally recognized technology incubator.
“In addition to the normal startup concerns, entrepreneurs in the 5G space face a unique set of challenges such as regulatory issues at the state and local levels, network security, and integration testing,” said ATDC Director John Avery.
ATDC brings a unique framework that combines its startup curriculum, coaching, connections, and community, as well as direct access to Georgia Tech resources, research expertise, and student talent, to help entrepreneurs learn, launch, scale, and succeed. In this effort, ATDC will offer programing, recruit and evaluate startups and hire staff to manage the vertical in Peachtree Corners.
“This collaboration is a great opportunity for ATDC and Georgia Tech, the city of Peachtree Corners and Curiosity Lab, and T-Mobile, a Fortune 50 company, to create a unique collection strength to work with these companies, refine their ideas into scalable companies, and bring these solutions to market more quickly,” Avery said.
Such a partnership underscores “Georgia Tech’s commitment to enabling tomorrow’s technology leaders, which remains as strong as when ATDC was founded 41 years ago,” said Chaouki T. Abdallah, Georgia Tech’s Executive Vice President for Research. “Innovation cannot take place in a vacuum, which is why entrepreneurs and startups require the knowledge and resources provided through partnerships such as ours.”
The Connected Future program is located at Curiosity Lab, in the city of Peachtree Corners in Metro Atlanta. It is a T-Mobile 5G connected facility featuring a 25,000 square foot innovation center and 3-mile autonomous vehicle test track located in a 500-acre technology park. T-Mobile has deployed its Extended Range and Ultra Capacity 5G network across the park, enabling developers to test solutions in a real-world environment where thousands of people live and work.
“The City of Peachtree Corners and Curiosity Lab continue to affirm our commitment to technology innovation through programs, partnerships and engagements with industry leaders such as T-Mobile and Georgia Tech,” said Betsy Plattenburg, executive director of Curiosity Lab. “These two organizations were instrumental in the launch of Curiosity Lab and our continued collaboration will create opportunities for the next-generation of intelligent mobility and smart city entrepreneurs.”
T-Mobile 5G, A Platform for Innovation
T-Mobile is America’s 5G leader, with the fastest and largest nationwide 5G network. T-Mobile’s Extended Range 5G covers more than 280 million people across nearly 1.6 million square miles – more geographic coverage than AT&T and Verizon combined. With Sprint now part of T-Mobile, the Un-carrier is widening its lead, using dedicated spectrum to bring customers with capable devices download speeds of around 300 Mbps and peak speeds up to 1 Gbps.
With its supercharged 5G network as the foundation, T-Mobile is working to fuel 5G innovation and build the 5G ecosystem. The Un-carrier collaborates with universities and standards bodies to support 5G research and development. In addition to running the award-winning T-Mobile Accelerator, it also operates the T-Mobile Ventures investment fund and is a co-founder of the 5G Open Innovation Lab.
Startups interested in joining the 5G Connected Future program can learn more and apply HERE.
Have questions?
Please e-mail us at connectedfutures@atdc.org