Telefónica opens its 5G network and edge computing to startups to develop new services

Through its Wayra Activation Program initiative, the company offers entrepreneurs the possibility of testing and developing new use cases with these technologies.

Telefónica has launched a call in search of startups that develop solutions that take advantage of possibilities offered by 5G and edge computing. The initiative is framed in the Wayra Activation Programme, the program promoted by Wayra, Telefónica's global open innovation hub, with which the company provides entrepreneurs free access to its technologies to test their solutions.

The call is aimed at startups that have at least one service, product or use case based on 5G and/or edge computing. The registration period through the Wayra Activation Program website ends on February 14.

The selected startups will be part of the Wayra 5G/Edge Lab, a pioneer laboratory in Spain in the development of use cases in these technologies that will be launched in the coming weeks. The applications developed will be part of an exhibition space aimed at companies and will have investment opportunities from Wayra.

In the laboratory they will have access to 5G/Edge infrastructure of Telefónica to test its products and use cases. Besides. They will be able to take advantage of other technical resources and the company's technological and commercial advice. As members of it, they will also benefit from the advantages offered by the company's open innovation ecosystem in collaboration with multiple partners. All this within one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world and with the possibility of jointly developing new solutions and, eventually, marketing them.

Miguel Arias, Global Director of Entrepreneurship at Telefónica, states that "we want to open up innovation again to collaboration with startups and bring them closer to the real world of the company. Now that Telefónica has made a large deployment of both 5G and edge computing, it is time to give them access to these new technologies with great transformative potential. We want to discover these possibilities with them and together develop innovative applications to continue accompanying companies and society in general in their digitalization."

5G and edge computing will be key to the development of virtual and augmented reality solutions, gaming, autonomous cars, robotics, remote content production and will transform sectors such as transportation, Industry 4.0, media, tourism and healthcare, among others.

The Telefónica's 5G network was turned on in Spain last September and already reaches more than 80% of the population. The company also has three edge nodes in Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Seville which, relying on the capillarity of its network and the proximity of its telephone exchanges to the end user, will facilitate the explosion of cloud services and the Internet of Things (IoT).