Telefónica and 5GBarcelona present a new open lab for testing 5G and IoT solutions

• The new laboratory will be equipped with a multi-technology infrastructure and network open to corporations, SMEs and startups that wish to test their projects
• The new laboratory aims to shorten the time to market of products and services in pre-production and accelerate other specific pilot tests based on 5G technology
• This new space will be incorporated into the 5GBarcelona project, an initiative that will turn the city into an open 5G laboratory at European level.

April 11, 2018

Telefónica and 5GBarcelona will create a new open laboratory for testing 5G and IoT solutions in order to foster their deployment and allow startups, SMEs and corporations to test and validate new applications and services. The facilities will be part of the 5GBarcelona project, an initiative that aims to transform the city into a leading European 5G hub.

The laboratory project was presented in Barcelona today by the General Manager of Telefónica in Catalonia, Kim Faura, and Carlos Grau, CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital), in representation of 5GBarcelona.

The new laboratory will be located at the MWCapital offices at Pier01, and will be a fully open space dedicated to E2E IoT testing with an LPWA network (Low Power Wide Area) and multi-technology infrastructure including NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) and LTE-M (Long Term Evolution) and Cat1. These technologies have advanced capabilities that are particularly significant in industry, such as lower battery consumption, reinforced interior coverage and the ability to support a higher density of connected objects.

This will allow entrepreneurs or companies to test their projects in the lab, and if they prove successful, continue testing in a real network environment in Barcelona as 5G technology matures and becomes available for deployment.

Thinx

As members of 5GBarcelona, MWCapital will provide the space, facilities management and logistical support for the laboratory, while i2cat will promote the growth of the local ecosystem and provide on-site technical support for the companies using it. Telefónica will manage the network and communications infrastructure and provide remote technical support and training, in addition to placing their global knowledge, use cases and models of technology applied to business at the disposal of users.

Telefónica will base this laboratory on its model The Thinx, a collaborative space that allows users to cover the entire development process of an IoT solution from the pilot to real environment testing, and provide lab users with a replica of these technologies during the launch phase, in addition to any support they may need to connect and integrate them into the new IoT solutions.

The laboratory will gather together all of the relevant players in terms of network, chipsets and platforms, and, furthermore, will also offer the certification of the solutions and possible opportunities for their use in the group’s projects.

The partners of the initiative intend for the new 5G and IoT lab to be a model for stimulating business creation, shortening the time to market of products and services and accelerating other 5G-based specific pilot tests.

Other objectives include supporting and guiding 5G-based pilot tests, attracting more talent to the field of new technologies, driving development and bringing new technologies together to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Barcelona.

In this way, the lab will become not only a centre for coworking and business acceleration, but also technical support and knowhow.