Orange Belgium has officially opened its first Orange 5G Lab in Antwerp, inviting companies to discover, test and develop new innovative use cases on 5G Stand Alone network technology.
The Lab will join the Orange’s international network of seven other Labs across Europe, fostering collaboration and innovation on an unprecedented level. Following the co-innovation initiatives in 2020 with partners and large companies on the Orange 5G SA campus in the Port of Antwerp, Orange Belgium takes a new important step to unlock the full potential of 5G, by opening its first permanent Orange 5G Lab in the City of Antwerp.
The new Orange 5G Lab consolidates the knowledge and expertise gathered from Orange Belgium on 5G Industry 4.0 as well as the initial co-innovation use cases delivered in the Port of Antwerp to help develop and test new and inspiring Industry 4.0 use cases. During the process Orange is permanently expanding its ecosystem of partners, customers and also startups. In April 2021, the first three start-ups that are active on 5G have been recruited through the Orange Fab acceleration program, to join the Orange 5G Lab program and community. In this brand-new installation, situated in The Beacon in Antwerp, the operator will demonstrate the capabilities of the new 5G SA telecom standard and how it will help companies to innovate and to digitize. More than ever, businesses are expecting telecom providers to not only offer connectivity but also a broader range of services, as well as guidance on new technologies.
Discovering, developing and testing 5G SA
In that context, the Orange 5G Lab is a service offer for customers, prospects and all economic players interested in 5G technology and is based on:
A program for discovering 5G and its various usages whereby experts provide key knowledge through explanation, demonstration, and animation.A program to develop and test new and innovative use cases or new products and services, in real-life conditions, using the 5G SA network technology.
Since the Orange 5G Lab’s radio network is directly connected to the Orange 5G Core system, the development of new use cases in the Lab allows it to deploy and easily scale them to the customers’ premises. In addition, the Orange 5G Lab site also hosts various types of certified 5G devices: routers, smartphones, tablets, smart glasses and cameras, that work on a 5G SA network and are tested and validated by Orange engineers.
Werner De Laet, Chief Enterprise, Wholesale and Innovation officer of Orange Belgium
The opening of this 5G Lab is an important new step towards unlocking the full potential of 5G SA technology and delivering concrete business value. By inviting customers, prospects and partners to use the Lab to discover, develop and test 5G solutions, Orange Belgium will foster digital innovation and create value for the whole Belgian economy and even beyond.
Karine Dussert-Sarthe, EVP Orange Innovation Marketing and Design of the Orange Group
Our growing network of Orange 5G Labs unlocks innovation from Paris to Bucharest and fosters collaboration across the ecosystem. 140 businesses have explored 5G in details with us. More than 40 have benefited from complimentary customized support to prototype how 5G can support their own products or services to unlock value.
