Austria's largest communications provider A1 and BABEG (Kärntner Betriebsansiedlungs- und Beteiligungs GmbH) today signed a partnership agreement for setting up the "5G Playground Carinthia" at Lakeside Science & Technology Park. BABEG – in which the Federal Government (Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology) and the Carinthian Government each hold 50 percent – is a company promoting projects in research, technology, innovation and technical infrastructure in Carinthia. BABEG also holds a 2/3 share in Lakeside Science & Technology Park in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee.

The new advanced wireless standard will be made accessible to Carinthian companies, education and research institutions to enable them to develop the technology and applications of tomorrow. Completion of the 5G Playground Carinthia is scheduled for September 2019. "We are pleased to be the official partner and supplier of the 5G Playground Carinthia. By expanding its capacity to 5G, the Lakeside Science & Technology Park, Austria's lighthouse campus for business, research and education, is reaching the next level", says Marcus Grausam, CEO of A1 Österreich commenting on the cooperation within the 5G Playground Carinthia project.

5G wireless technology is currently on everyone's lips and is considered to be the key technology within the proactive digitization campaign. The 5th generation of mobile telephony stands out with peak data rates of up to 10 Gigabit per second, extremely low latency (delay) times and high energy efficiency. BABEG is developing the 5G Playground Carinthia in line with the 5G strategy of the Federal Government and the digitization campaign of the Province of Carinthia. The initial funding of the project to the amount of € 1.6 million is provided by the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology and the Province of Carinthia. "Lakeside Science & Technology Park with its campus character and its close cooperation between companies, start-ups, research and education, is the ideal place for this 5G research lab. It provides perfect conditions for the development of future innovations", says Federal Minister Norbert Hofer who is pleased about the choice of location for the Playground.

The 5G Playground Carinthia will be a test lab and research site where various applications, products and processes can be tested. "The 5G-Playground Carinthia will be a one-stop-shop for research, test applications and the advancement of 5G-specific applications, services and business models", the CEOs of BABEG, Mag. Hans Schönegger and Mag. Markus Hornböck agree. They are in charge of the conceptual design, implementation and running of the Playground.

"The 5G Playground Carinthia will be a unique possibility for Carinthian research and educational institutions, SMEs and start-up companies to use this new technology to develop their products and applications further and to do research in this field", says Carinthia's Technology Officer and Vice-Governor Dr. Gaby Schaunig about the potential the Playground holds in store for research and business activities in Carinthia.

The first focal topics of the 5G Playground Carinthia will be virtual realities, swarm intelligence in the use of drones, smart city applications and wireless industrial robots. An essential element of the tasks of the 5G Playground Carinthia will be the promotion of cooperation between research institutes and companies to their mutual benefit. The operators expect the application-oriented research findings will also lead to the establishment of more spin-offs in Carinthia.The contract was signed today. Work will now begin on the test laboratory and the technical equipment. The official opening of the 5G Playground Carinthia is scheduled for September 2019.

About BABEG
(Kärntner Betriebsansiedlungs- und Beteiligungsgesellschaft)

BABEG was founded by the Province of Carinthia and the Republic of Austria in 1981 with the aim of strengthening the economic power of Carinthia. Today BABEG has five central tasks that are in line with the overall economic strategy of the Province of Carinthia.

• Promotion and support of international business settlements & investors – "Invest in Carinthia"
• Strategic management of shareholdings (e.g. build! Gründerzentrum Kärnten GmbH, Logistik Center Austria Süd GmbH, Lakeside Science & Technology Park, High Tech Campus Villach)
• Location management of industrial and commercial sites
• Strategic investment in extramural institutions and research facilities (e.g. Lakeside Labs, Joanneum Research, Kompetenzzentrum Holz)
• RTI management (projects/initiatives in the field of research, technology and innovation)

The objective of all measures and projects is to position Carinthia as an innovative technology hub for research, industry and business located in the heart of Europe on the international scene. BABEG is also responsible for initiating projects to strengthen and promote Carinthia's economic and innovative power.

A1 – Internet, telephone, TV and IT solutions from a single source

A1 is Austria's leading communications provider with more than 5.3 million mobile customers and more than 2 million fixed-network lines. Customers benefit from a comprehensive, one-stop service provision consisting of voice telephony, Internet access, digital cable TV, data and IT solutions, wholesale services and mobile business and payment solutions. The company's brands A1, bob, Red Bull MOBILE and Yesss! stand for ultimate quality and smart services.  Acknowledging its corporate social responsibility, A1 incorporates social and environmental issues into its core business.

A1 (legal person: A1 Telekom Austria AG) is part of A1 Telekom Austria Group - a leading provider of digital services and communications solutions in the CEE region with more than 24 million customers in seven countries. The Telekom Austria Group (ATX:TKA) offers communication solutions, payment and entertainment services plus integrated business solutions and achieved sales of EUR 4.47 billion in the 2018 financial year, of which more than EUR 2.6 billion came from A1 sales. Nearly 19,000 employees and state-of-the-art broadband infrastructure enable digital lifestyle and allow customers, companies and devices to network anywhere, anytime. As the European unit of América Móvil, one of the world's largest mobile operators, the group is headquartered in Vienna and provides access to global solutions.