Leading Swiss company in telecommunications and information technology has joined Ericsson and Qualcomm CDMA Technologies GmbH to identify the world’s most innovative startups and research groups working on 5G applications.
The five winners of the Swisscom StartUp Challenge will be invited to an Exploration Week in Switzerland in 2021, during which they will have the opportunity to extensively try out their prototypes live on the Swisscom 5G network and take them to a new level.
They will have access to Swisscom‘s 5G lab, their live network dedicated to 5G devices, and will be supported by experts and mentors from Ericsson, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies and Swisscom. The deadline for submitting applications is 11 October 2020.
With its ultra-fast and robust broadband connections and low latency, 5G – the latest generation of mobile communications – opens up a whole series of new possibilities.
A worldwide battle is being waged to be among the pioneers in building the first networks to take advantage of this technology at an early stage. In April 2019, Swisscom was the first European supplier – and the fifth in the world – that put its 5G network into operation and continues to expand it constantly. Winners will benefit from this advantage: Swisscom is joining forces with its partners Ericsson and Qualcomm CDMA Technologies to launch the Swisscom 5G Startup Challenge and is inviting winners to widely experience their applications on the 5G network live, taking them to a level higher.
Launched in 2013, the Swisscom StartUp Challenge is focusing entirely on 5G in 2020 and this year, for the first time, it is open to startups and research groups from around the world. Over the past seven years, the challenge winners, including Ava, Exeon Analytics, Futurae and Sentifi, have each traveled to Silicon Valley to participate in a week-long acceleration program.
This year, Swisscom and its partners will invite the winners to spend a week in Switzerland, where they will have the opportunity to carry out exhaustive tests on the most innovative mobile applications of the last generation and take them to the next level – on the Swisscom network.
Seek expert knowledge and explore Switzerland
Startups and research groups from around the world are invited to explore the potential of 5G and have already developed a product or prototype. Applications must be received at www.swisscom.com/5gstartupchallenge until 11 October 2020.
The 10 most interesting applications will be invited to the final in December 2020. The five most innovative 5G participants will travel to Switzerland in March 2021, where they will have the opportunity to spend a week conducting test cases in the Swisscom 5G laboratory or in different locations, regions and also on trains via the live network.
They will be supported at each stage of the process by mentors and experts from Ericsson, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, Venturelab and Swisscom and will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with leading entrepreneurs and investors.
In addition, the winners will be able to explore Switzerland, visiting the main worldwide innovation facilities, such as the Federal Institute of Technology and the Federal Institute of Lausanne, and meeting the pioneers of business and technology.
A trip to the Mobile World Congress 2021
In November 2020, the general public will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorite app. The startup or research group that wins public votes will travel to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2021.
