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Verizon opens 5G lab dedicated to tech for first responders

Verizon's 5G First Responder Lab is an incubator for 5G uses for public safety.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Gordon Gottsegen
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Firefighters and other first responders will have access to the 5G tech that comes out of this lab.

Digital First Media/Orange Count

Verizon is one of the industry's leaders in 5G, and its 5G development extends beyond making your mobile data speeds faster.

On Thursday, Verizon announced its 5G First Responder Lab, an innovation incubator for public safety tech that uses 5G. It will give startups and other innovators early access to 5G so they can come up with useful real-world applications.

5G is the next wave of wireless connection, and it's quickly becoming closer to a reality. Besides being used on a consumer level, Verizon says that 5G has the potential to enable new technology for first responders with life-saving implications.

"First responders should have the absolute best, most effective technologies available to them as they protect our communities and respond to emergencies large and small," said Verizon SVP Toby Redshaw. "Our 5G First Responder Lab will give technology innovators the opportunity to develop applications and use cases that leverage the unique capabilities of 5G, and to bring those solutions to market more quickly."

The lab will be open for a one-year period and give 15 different innovators the tools they need so they can develop public safety solutions. Applications for the first wave of innovators are open until Dec. 31.

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