AT&T and Comcast have become “founding partners” of the 5G Open Innovation Lab, which invests in 5G use case development. The companies essentially replaced T-Mobile, which is no longer participating in the lab it helped to launch in 2020. The Lab now also includes Dell, Nokia, Intel, Microsoft, and Deloitte. It is currently assisting 118 startups in search of “5G Killer Apps.”

“As evidenced by the 118 startups in our ecosystem, the combination of 5G and edge is unlocking a massive wave of collaborative innovation in Cloud, Edge and AI across every industry from agriculture and power generation to manufacturing, logistics and medicine,” said Jim Brisimitzis, Founder and General Partner of the 5G Open Innovation Lab in in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome AT&T and Comcast as founding partners to help drive our vision to bring industry experts together and, collectively, drive innovation into overlapping ecosystems. 5G and edge are new foundations that can be used to drive new business models and technology across segments and companies,” he added.

Those startups could stand to benefit from the two companies. AT&T was one of the first carriers to launch a 5G network (based on 3GPP Release 15 in December 2018) and has been working on this technology for a long time.

“Collaboration is the key to innovation,” Jay Cary, VP, Strategic Alliances, Corporate Strategy at AT&T said in a statement. “As we continue forging ahead to realize 5G’s full potential, it is important to work with the nimble startup and innovation community so we can move faster and solve real-world technology challenges more holistically and effectively for our customers.”

While Comcast doesn’t have a 5G network, the company has increasingly gotten into the wireless business through a reseller agreement with Verizon. It’s also talked about small network build outs that would increase the coverage for customers in its territories.

“The cycle of innovation often begins in small companies where a new idea can challenge existing ones, and Comcast has had success taking risks and embracing these new ideas,” Tom Nagel, senior vice president of wireless strategy at Comcast, said. “Engaging with the startup community through our own Lift Labs or with organizations like the 5G Open Innovation Lab is an important factor not only in our own efforts but to push the industry forward in exciting new ways.”

On Monday, AT&T said it’s adding thousands of new customers every day to its standalone 5G network along with subscribers to Internet Air. So far, the home broadband system has launched in 16 markets and boasts 40-140 Mbps down and 5-25 Mbps up, costs about $55 a month with no data caps. Internet Air will provide DSL customers with faster internet without having to replace copper lines, which more companies are starting to shut down.

Yesterday, Comcast said in a Securities Exchange Commission filing agreed to sell some, if not all, of its 600MHz spectrum holdings to T-Mobile. The deal is valued between $1.2 and $3.3 billion, depending on how much spectrum T-Mobile acquires. Comcast has also flirted with the idea of building its own mobile network for markets inside its cable footprint.

Batch #8 welcomes 17 new startups to 5G OI Lab’s open ecosystem bringing the total number of participating companies to 118. The multi-stage startups selected for the Lab’s Fall Batch #8 hail from around the Globe and represent cutting-edge enterprise solutions in fields such as real-time logistics and tracking, robotics, private mobile network security and IoT enablement.

Since the 5G Open Innovation Lab’s program inception in 2020, participating startups and alumni have raised a lifetime total of $2.088B with several exits valued at $200+M.

The startups selected to join the 5G Open Innovation Lab’s Fall Batch #8 include:

• Airspace – At Airspace, we believe in the potential drones have to positively impact the ways in which we do business, deliver services, and respond to emergencies. In order for that to happen, drones need to be flown safely.
• ASOCS – ASOCS provides a fully virtualized Private 5G Network solution, along with 5G Positioning Services for enterprises that require mission-critical, data-driven applications. ASOCS products are delivered on a scalable Software as a Service (SaaS) model.
• Clevon – Clevon develops and manufactures autonomous robot carriers, making last-mile delivery more innovative, environmentally friendly and efficient.
• Cumucore – Cumucore is a light mobile core with Industry 4.0 specific feature set to enable affordable next-generation mobile private networks.
• Eridan – Eridan is building the world’s first digital sampling radio for 4G, 5G, and beyond.
• Expanso – Expanso, building upon their open-source project Bacalhau, offers a platform for distributed compute. They orchestrate jobs to run where the data is generated and stored, providing a fast and secure solution for large-scale data processing.
• Golioth – Golioth is uniquely positioned to enable custom IoT hardware to scale easily from one device to millions.
• HeadSpin – HeadSpin enables testing and monitoring of mobile, web, audio/video applications in real-time with AI-based insights.
• Intuitive Robotics – Intuitive Robotics leverages cutting-edge technologies, including 5G, edge computing, computer vision AI, generative AI, IoT, data analytics, and cloud computing, to deliver innovative SaaS solutions capable of addressing complex challenges across diverse industries such as agriculture, renewable energies, oil and gas, mining, and public safety.
• Kallipr – Kallipr are experts in remote monitoring IoT solutions that automate data generation at the extreme edge, allowing industries to increase operational efficiency, reduce operating costs and improve sustainability.
• Namla – Namla Cloud provides a platform that allows companies of any size to automatically deploy & manage thousands of edges in the best-optimized way.
• Nubix – Nubix is an edge native application platform that makes it easy to build, deploy and manage IoT and edge applications.
• OneLayer – OneLayer provides zero trust security and full asset management capabilities to IoT and other devices connected to a private cellular network.
• Orion Labs – Orion provides edge-optimized voice collaboration for frontline workers with encrypted, secure Push-to-Talk (PTT), location and media, and Voice AI Commands, Queries and Workflows for process automation.
• Pratexo – Pratexo brings the benefits of hybrid and distributed cloud computing to the edge of power systems that drive the energy transition.
• Real Life Robotics – Real Life Robotics is changing the way companies manage their labor. With our customizable cargo robotics platform, BUBs, we help clients fill the labor gap and focus their people on more value-added tasks.
• Reelables – Reelables smart labels automate data collection with real-time visibility into supply chain operations and performance.

About 5G Open Innovation Lab

The 5G Open Innovation Lab is a global innovation ecosystem that brings together multi-stage startups, enterprise and global technology platforms and investors to connect and collaborate on developing disruptive new enterprise technologies and solutions that capitalize on the power of edge computing connected to public and private 5G networks.

In just 4 years, the Lab has attracted a roster of world-class corporate and industry partners as well as 118 multi-stage enterprise startups who have collectively raised $2.088B of venture capital. Through 5G OI Lab’s unique model of open collaborative innovation, corporate partners work directly with ecosystem startups to accelerate commercialization through proof of concept, go-to-market, and other engagements and opportunities.

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