AT&T, Texas A&M Demonstrate new 5G Research Testbed

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - One of the most advanced university-based 5G research and innovation testbeds opened this morning on the RELLIS Campus in Bryan. About 100 industry and government leaders were there to learn how 5G is poised to enhance daily life in countless ways.

“What you saw here today is just the tip of the iceberg on what’s going to happen,” said Texas A&M Chancellor, John Sharp.

AT&T and the university provided demonstrations showing how the high-tech facility will help researchers improve healthcare, farming, veterinary care, disaster relief and national security. The testbeds will be an opportunity to explore the potential that 5G can bring to multiple industries.

“The purpose of the 5G testbed is to create real world experiences in an experimentation area,” said Lee Wagner, AT&T Area Vice President of Mobility Solutions.

Some of the experiments demonstrated today included precision farming, medical emergency response and autonomous vehicle communication.

“I think having a testbed where you can do things multiple times and move modernization quickly is going to be critical as we look towards our future,” said George H.W. Bush Combat Development Executive Director, Ross Guibb.

Founded in 2016 by the Texas A&M University System, the RELLIS campus in Bryan fosters cutting-edge research, technology development, workforce training and two- and four-year college degrees by tapping the System’s state agencies and multiple universities, along with academic, corporate and government partners outside the System.

“It is set apart in a couple different ways. It’s in the top 15 or so in the nation,” said Wagner. “Their research is applied research but the most important reason is it’s a fantastic group of people from the Chancellor on down to the last person.”

Texas A&M system state agencies will be some of the first to use the testbed after its opening today.

“We are flooded already, before the press conference, with calls from industry all over the state of Texas,” said Sharp.

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