CCA ANNUAL CONVENTION: T-Mobile US CTO Neville Ray detailed a new investment fund for companies developing innovative 5G services, aiming to jump-start application development as it continues to expand next generation coverage.

Ray said the “multi-million dollar, multi-year” T-Mobile Ventures fund builds on its existing T-Mobile Accelerator and 5G Open Innovation Lab initiatives. The new scheme targets “early and growth-stage companies developing ground-breaking 5G products”.

He explained with network moves largely in hand, “now is the time for developers to build the applications that will unleash the potential of 5G”.

Ray also used his appearance to detail a goal of providing nationwide mid-band 5G coverage by end-2021, adding to its current 600MHz network.

Fund
An operator representative told Mobile World Live it expects initial T-Mobile Ventures investments of between $2 million and $5 million per company, though higher amounts are possible.

Target applications include edge computing; security; industrial IoT; and workforce communication and collaboration.

Additional funding is being reserved for follow-up funding rounds, the representative added.

Companies will be offered access to T-Mobile’s network and engineering expertise to develop and test products, along with its distribution, marketing and sales infrastrucure, the representative said.