WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Utopian Wireless Corporation (“Utopian”) and Atelum LLC (“Atelum”) today announced they have reached an agreement to launch an advanced wireless broadband market trial in Charlottesville, Virginia using Utopian’s 2.5 GHz licensed spectrum in the Charlottesville Basic Trading Area. The market trial service is expected to initially be available to over 10,000 households in the Charlottesville area and cover the grounds of University of Virginia and the city of Charlottesville based on final site selection. The trial is slated to start in early 2016. Utopian and Atelum are currently finalizing engineering and network design plans and identifying local groups with whom they plan to collaborate over the course of the market trial.
Utopian and Atelum are conducting the market trial using world class Advanced TD-LTE technology and plan to provide end-users with portable devices to connect to off-the-shelf technologies including laptops, tablets and mobile phones. The trial is designed to test new models of service delivery and develop a greater understanding of how millennials use wireless technology for education, entertainment and entrepreneurship.
“We are excited to put Charlottesville with its incredible demographics at the forefront of Advanced LTE deployment in the United States,” said Rudy Geist, CEO of Utopian. “The Charlottesville community is bustling with the energy of the University’s students and we want to tap into that to understand how we can best serve the upcoming generation with affordable and useful broadband services,” commented John Muleta, CEO of Atelum and who is an alumnus of the University of Virginia and a founding member of the School of Engineering’s Entrepreneurial Advisory Board. “Charlottesville and its smart, youthful population is a great eco-system for understanding how consumers are evolving in their use of wireless broadband. There is also a great entrepreneurial spirit in and around the University focused on healthcare, cyber-security and consumer apps that will be unleashed by the availability of advanced broadband unconstrained by the high prices and service limitations of the incumbent carriers. We plan to tap into that spirit and develop new service concepts that could be rolled out in other markets and on other LTE spectrum throughout the country,” continued Muleta.
About Utopian Wireless and Atelum LLC
Utopian Wireless Corporation, founded in 2006, is a Washington, DC based company focused on developing 2.5 GHz spectrum. Utopian focuses on deploying advanced wireless networks in markets where consumers are currently underserved by incumbent broadband service providers and is a holder of licensed 2.5 GHz spectrum rights in hundreds of communities in 17 U.S. states. Please visit www.utopianwireless.com for more information.
Atelum LLC is a technology transfer firm based in Falls Church, Virginia specializing in mobile and web services platforms.
