OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ready, set, INNOVATE! T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) today unveiled six exciting companies handpicked to participate in this year's T-Mobile Accelerator. These companies will work directly with T-Mobile leaders and other industry experts and mentors to develop and commercialize the next disruptive emerging products, applications and solutions made possible by T-Mobile's nationwide 5G network today and in the future. Formerly the Sprint Accelerator, the immersive program runs through July 30 and will culminate in Demo Day where participants showcase their accomplishments. "We are committed to using our broad and deep nationwide 5G network to accelerate innovation and spur the development of new, transformative applications. Mentoring, collaborating with, and providing resources to these six promising companies is an important part of that mission," said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile.

Mobile US named Nokia to supply it with $3.5 billion in next-generation 5G network gear, the firms said on Monday, marking the world's largest 5G deal so far and concrete evidence of a new wireless upgrade cycle taking root. No.3 U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile - which in April agreed to a merger with Sprint to create a more formidable rival to U.S. telecom giants Verizon and AT&T - said the multiyear supply deal with Nokia will deliver the first nationwide 5G services. The T-Mobile award is critical to Finland's Nokia, whose results have been battered by years of slowing demand for existing 4G networks and mounting investor doubts over whether 5G contracts can begin to boost profitability later this year. But cash-strapped telecom operators around the world have been gun-shy over committing to commercial upgrades of existing networks, with many seeing 5G technology simply as a way to deliver incremental capacity increases instead of new features. Advances in mobile data networks in the next decade could bring a number of benefits, according to the White House.