US operator Verizon sought to extend its 5G reach beyond its home market, opening a laboratory in the UK where it can experiment and share ideas for next generation use cases with international partners.

Located at its existing offices in London, the operator said the laboratory is its first non-domestic 5G-enabled test site. It offers companies a chance to develop and test use cases requiring massive bandwidth and low latency, with the operator anticipating trials to cover autonomous vehicles; virtual healthcare; smart manufacturing; immersive education; smart cities; advertising; retail; and AR and VR, among others.

It also plans to open a production studio in April, where Verizon Media brands and partners will be able to create 3D content for new AR/VR experiences.

Tami Erwin, Verizon Business CEO, stated “one of the best ways of unleashing the true possibilities of 5G is getting it into the hands of innovators and visionaries”, adding the London lab will give international customers access to Verizon’s expertise as they build next generation experiences.

A representative told Mobile World Live the laboratory would focus on mmWave. While the technology hasn’t been widely selected for 5G beyond the US, Japan and South Korea, Qualcomm executives recently predicted it would begin to make inroads in Europe from 2021.

Verizon already runs 5G labs in five US cities and recently teamed with other operators to tackle interoperability.