Orange Belgium and La Grand Poste join forces to create a 5G Lab in the heart of Liège

After the inauguration of its first 5G Lab in Antwerp in October 2021, Orange Belgium forged a partnership with the iconic Grand Poste of Liège, veritable hub dedicated to creative companies and innovation. The objective of the 5G Lab in Liège is to demystify this new technology and demonstrate its possibilities and applications. The lab will also be used to develop and test out innovative and concrete new 5G applications in collaboration with customers, prospects and partners.

With its 8,000 m² of total surface area including private offices, 200 coworking spaces, as well as many multimedia studios, la Grand Poste is distinguishing itself as one of Wallonia’s most important and creative technological hubs. An ideal setting for Orange Belgium´s second 5G Lab, which will be opening during the first half of 2022.

Thanks to this partnership, all local entrepreneurs, the university world, the start-ups and economic and social players will have open access to this new technology.

Orange Belgium’s experts will support the development of new solutions on 5G by furnishing all necessary information and accompanying pilot projects.

Moreover, those who are interested in the technology will be able to try out its functionalities and access equipment that has been certified by Orange’s teams, such as routers, smartphones, tablets, as well as connected glasses, but they will also be able to come and test their own equipment.

Candidates for developing new use cases can also benefit from the expertise available in the Orange Group´s rapidly growing international network (Paris, Lille, Marseilles, Bucharest, etc.) of 5G labs. The inauguration of the La Grand Poste Lab will bring the number of Orange 5G Labs to 10. Many local actors from both the industrial sector and universities have already indicated their interest in the project. ​ ​ ​

Werner De Laet, Chief Enterprise, Innovation and Wholesale Officer of Orange Belgium: "After the opening of our first Lab in Antwerp and its great success in generating a positive dynamic in the region, we are delighted to be able to develop 5G and its applications in Wallonia as well, and especially in the exceptional framework of La Grand Poste. There we will be able to facilitate the innovation and creativity of local actors and demonstrate 5G’s potential in a fully transparent manner, while basing ourselves on a first-class national and international network. Moreover, this approach supports the Walloon economic recovery plan and fits within its objectives to support start-ups, stimulate innovation, foster sustainability and assist training and economic development." ​

Gérôme Vanherf, CEO of la Grand Poste: « We are very happy to announce this cooperation with Orange, which fully corresponds to our vision of La Grand Poste: a place designed to facilitate encounters between all of the players in the innovation ecosystems (start-ups, SME's, large companies, academic players, investors, government authorities, the general public, etc.) and thus generate high-potential projects. Facilitating access to technological innovations such as 5G thus forms a part of our missions, but of course not at just any price. The objective of this collaboration with Orange 5G Lab will be to help everyone better understand the potential of this technology and its future concrete applications in key sectors such as health, mobility, the energy transition, the media, the cultural and creative industries, etc. We are convinced that this 5G Lab will offer strong advantages for our community and for the broader Liège region. »