Launching 5G in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry

West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Limited has awarded a major contract to a consortium led by Telefonica UK (O2), with Digital Catapult, Deloitte and Wayra, to build 5G accelerators in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry.

WM5G is the organisation delivering the UK’s first region-wide 5G testbed, backed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

The three 5G accelerator facilities will comprise of centrally-located office and demonstration spaces with access to cutting-edge 5G technology, both indoors and outdoors, extending several kilometres. Each venue will have access to private 5G networks – enabling businesses and public sector organisations to experiment with 5G features that aren’t yet commercially released. This will be combined with the latest devices, professional advice and technical support. At least 2,000 private sector businesses and public sector organisations from across the West Midlands and beyond will be able to benefit from using the 5G accelerators over the next five years.

Jeremy Silver, CEO, Digital Catapult: “5G is exciting, transformative and different from everything that has gone before it. Digital Catapult’s work over the last four years, building 5G testbeds and working with start-ups to help refine products to take advantage of all that 5G has to offer, has prepared us well to get to work in the West Midlands. The industrial opportunity to transform existing services and create entirely new ones is an opportunity to accelerate the growth of businesses in the region and develop their global competitiveness. We’re excited to work in the West Midlands with our consortium members to the ultimate benefit of over 2,000 companies.”

To read the full press release, visit here. Further details about how to engage with the accelerators can be found at the 5PRING website here.