Verizon Debuts 5G Innovation Hub at University of Illinois Research Park

Verizon Business continues to accelerate the development of real-world 5G use cases with the rollout of its latest 5G Innovation Hub at the University of Illinois Research Park.

Students, startups and large corporations will now be able to develop and test 5G-enabled solutions at the Research Park’s headquarters. The Research Park, a technology innovation hub for startups and corporate R&D operations, is home to more than 120 companies employing students and full-time tech professionals. It is located on campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband service at the Innovation Hub will drive new research and development around using 5G for machine learning, IoT, robotics, artificial intelligence, guided vehicles, drones, manufacturing process automation, virtual reality, data analytics and more.

“Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband’s super-fast speeds, increased bandwidth and low latency can enhance applications for industries ranging from agriculture to manufacturing,” said Tami Erwin, EVP and CEO of Verizon Business. “The Research Park is an ideal location for our latest 5G Innovation Hub serving as an environment that cultivates startups, and inspires collaboration among various corporate partners and students to spur creativity and accelerate the innovation process.”

“The importance of 5G innovation and its impact to our campus and private sector partners in the Research Park is immeasurable,” said Dr. Susan Martinis, Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “This will accelerate the ability of our Research Park corporate partners and startups to develop technology that will harness the potential from 5G’s capabilities. We are proud to have the first such innovation hub at a university research park or incubator, and believe it will enhance our technology community and campus as a whole.”

This engagement is part of Verizon Business’ broader strategy to partner with enterprises, startups, universities, national labs and government/military to explore how 5G can disrupt and transform nearly every industry.

Verizon is building 5G Ultra Wideband right – 25 times faster than 4G LTE, super-low latency and massive bandwidth. The network will support the technology innovations that will improve how we live, work and play.

Verizon operates six 5G Labs in the U.S. and one in London that specialize in developing uses cases in industries ranging from healthcare to public safety to entertainment. In addition, Verizon is setting up 5G Innovation Hubs on premise for several customers as part of an ongoing initiative to partner on 5G-related use cases to help customers transform their industries. 5G Ultra Wideband is currently available in parts of 36 cities.