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Telefónica and Meta will open an innovation hub on the Metaverse in Madrid

Goal and Telephone have announced at the Mobile World Congress that they have reached an agreement to open an innovation Hub on the Metaverse in Madrid. The purpose of the hub will be to offer local startups and developers access to a 5G laboratory, where they will be able to use an end-to-end test bench in the Metaverse, developed with the networks and equipment of both companies.

In addition, this hub is intended to speed up the process of preparing networks and devices for the Metaverse by testing new network architectures as well as device and use cases. On the other hand, those who participate in the hub will have access to Telefónica’s open innovation ecosystem, as well as its Hub of innovation and talent resources. Meta has also signed up to offer resources, and will provide several in the field of engineering.

Chema Alonso, Digital Manager of Telefónica, has been in charge of confirming the creation of the hub, during his presentation at the 4YFN event for startups, which takes place within the framework of the MWC and in parallel to the fair. Alonso has also announced that, initially, the hub will be focused on startups and developers selected by Wayra, its open innovation hub, through the Open2metaverse call.

This is a call for your search, global in scope, and that is open to support companies with the best technologies to apply in the Metaverse in their development, growth and scaling. To do this, they seek to connect them with Telefónica, so that they can generate joint opportunities. Wayra will focus in this search on companies that are developing use cases, among others, in the sectors of connectivity, devices, virtual platforms, identity tools, NFTs and marketplaces. It will support the selected startups through technical support, infrastructure, access to the Wayra community, the possibility of global scaling and access to the group’s innovation ecosystem.

For Telefónica, the metaverse is «an evolution of the Internet supported by a set of technologies that are transforming the digital economy such as augmented reality and virtual reality, the creation of new value assets such as NFTs, business models based on web3 architectures and cryptocurrencies«.

Currently, the company already has capabilities of some relevance, both in network architecture and connectivity, to advance in the development of metaverses. But they want to go one step further, and have created a unit to encompass all the initiatives developed by the Telefónica Group around the Metaverse. Its maximum responsible, with the position of Chief Metaverse Officer, will be Yaiza Rubio.

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