University College Dublin Partnering with Vodafone Ireland and Ericsson on a New 5G Accelerator Programme
Vodafone Ireland has today announced that it is partnering with Ericsson and NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, to create a new 5G accelerator programme.
Through the nationwide programme, participants will have the opportunity to develop and enhance their business plans and validate the commercial potential and technical feasibility of innovative 5G enabled products and services.
Candidates who successfully complete the 5G accelerator programme will be eligible for early stage investment to bring their plans to fruition – launching a number of new 5G enabled products and services in Ireland.
Furthermore, successful applicants can gain access to a range of support services and applications to foster the development of 5G use cases, including:
- access to talent, mentors and investors;
- access to a range of programmes for venture creation and growth;
- Internet of Things (IoT)/5G use case development programmes; and
- access to finance.
Tom Flanagan, UCD’s Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation, said, “It will be exciting to see new 5G products, services and businesses that have truly global potential be launched first here in Ireland. We are delighted to be working with Vodafone and Ericsson on the new NovaUCD 5G accelerator programme announced today.”
“Participants on the programme will be able to access the business and technical expertise of Vodafone and Ericsson in 5G, as well as the expertise at NovaUCD, in developing and scaling new innovative hi-tech ventures, attracting investment and taking on the global opportunities created by 5G.”
Vodafone Ireland today also launched Ireland’s first live 5G network site open for trials in Dublin’s Docklands. To showcase the site’s capabilities, the first Irish international holographic call was carried out between Ireland and Vodafone’s Innovation Centre in Germany using fully standardised 5G technology.
The network consists of fully standardised Ericsson 5G being deployed over Vodafone Ireland’s recently acquired 5G spectrum. Vodafone Ireland will use this site to trial the latest 5G hardware, software and services as they become available in advance of 5G products hitting the market, and will continue to expand coverage in the area over the coming months.
The first Irish international holographic call was a demonstration of the type of possibilities that can be achieved on 5G, which could become an everyday future reality across business and society in Ireland. Benefits include robotic surgery, driverless cars and real time virtual gaming on the move.
This significant technological milestone sees Ireland’s first live 5G network site launched to allow businesses looking to explore or validate new products or services that require the high-speed, high-efficiency capability of this network to undertake trials for the first time.
Hosted by Vodafone Ireland’s CEO, Anne O’Leary, the holographic call involved a Q&A session with Max Gasparroni, Vodafone Ireland’s Interim CTO, who was in Germany.
This landmark announcement follows Vodafone’s first successful live demonstration of pre-standard 5G technology in Ireland last February, which achieved 15 Gigabit per second speeds with a latency of less than five milliseconds.
Anne O’Leary, CEO, Vodafone Ireland said, “As a business, we pride ourselves on being first to market with cutting edge, industry leading innovation. Our event today highlights our ongoing commitment to this. Making Ireland’s first ever live holographic call over 5G was a demonstration of how this new technology could eventually transform how we interact with each other across borders and time zones. It also demonstrates the wider potential that the launch of our 5G network can bring, not just to business, but to communities and citizens in the future.”
“With the speed and efficiency now offered, we can experiment with new and innovative IoT devices that will ultimately have the power to transform how we deliver products and services. Using our testbed in the Docklands, companies can now experiment and work to improve life changing technology, such as medical devices.”
John Griffin, Managing Director, Ericsson Ireland said, “We’re determined to roll-out 5G to businesses and consumers in Ireland with our partner Vodafone. The first international holographic call is an important milestone in achieving our goal. Holographic calls are just the start. The benefits of 5G will impact the whole economy, especially the thriving Irish technology sector. Ericsson is committed to R&D and a collaborative approach to 5G roll-out in Ireland. The accelerator programme with NovaUCD will be a springboard for entrepreneurship in the new 5G ecosystem.”
Expressions of interest in the new 5G accelerator programme can be submitted via www.ucd.ie/innovation/novaucd-5g-accelerator
ENDS
21 November 2018
For further information, please contact: Micéal Whelan, UCD Research and Innovation, Communications Manager (Innovation) e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie or t: +353 1 716 3712 or Emma Casey, Vodafone Ireland: emma.casey2@vodafone.com.
Editors Notes
Vodafone is Ireland's leading total communications provider with 2.3 million customers and employs over 2,000 people directly and indirectly in Ireland. Vodafone Group is one of the world's leading international mobile communications groups with mobile operations in 25 countries, partners with mobile networks in 44 more, and fixed broadband operations in 18 markets. www.vodafone.ie
Ericsson is a world leader in communications technology and services with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. The organisation consists of more than 100,000 experts who provide customers in 180 countries with innovative solutions and services. The Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on NASDAQ in New York. www.ericsson.com
At NovaUCD, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, we nurture and support new high-tech and knowledge-intensive companies as part of UCD’s research and innovation mission. At NovaUCD we provide purpose-built, state-of-the-art incubation facilities alongside a comprehensive business support programme for our client companies along with a series of programmes, including commercialisation bootcamps and an accelerator programme, to assist researchers who are commercialising research outputs. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx. www.ucd.ie/novaucd