Verizon, Nokia and Microsoft are offering private 5G infrastructure to business customers. Verizon said on Monday the deals with Microsoft and Nokia will improve the telecom’s ability to target business customers by offering clients the ability to automate factory floors, lower costs and speed up data traffic through private 5G networks.
Private 5G networks remove the need for businesses to jockey for speed with others on a public network. They also help enable data-intensive applications that use computer vision, augmented reality and machine learning to increase productivity. By providing on-site private 5G, businesses will realize increased power efficiencies and reduced costs of end user devices, while helping to address their privacy and security needs, according to Verizon.
“We have built a network that provides real-world, 5G-enabled solutions today,” said Rima Qureshi, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Verizon.
Microsoft’s cloud computing business Azure will run on top of Verizon’s 5G network to process the data generated by machines at the local facility and use artificial intelligence to automate operations, reported Reuters. Microsoft launched the new service late last month directed at telecom operators.
U.S.-based logistics company Ice Mobility is the first customer for the new partnership, allowing it to track employees packing products into the right boxes to skip quality control, according to Verizon. While 4G helped create multi-billion dollar businesses ranging from music and video streaming to cab hailing and food delivery, telecom operators seldom got a share of that growth, reported Reuters.
Verizon wants to take a share in new businesses that 5G might enable, either by partnering with bigger companies or by buying stakes in smaller ones. In international markets, where Verizon doesn’t have its own network, it’s working with Nokia to build private networks for manufacturing and logistics companies.
“Next year will be all about deploying private 5G and not about commercial success and we will start seeing early monetization from 2022 onwards,” Sowmyanarayan Sampath, president of Verizon’s global enterprise business, told Reuters.
The post Verizon Teams Up With Microsoft, Nokia for Private 5G Networks appeared first on Inside Towers.