NEWSBYTE US telecoms giant AT&T and Finnish electronics firm Nokia have teamed up to provide an Internet of Things (IoT) offering to organisations globally.
The two companies are using Nokia’s Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) to offer AT&T’s enterprise customers the use of Nokia’s existing IoT services, including core network, IoT operations, billing, security, and data analytics.
AT&T’s cloud-based Multi-Network Connect platform will be used as part of the package to simplify connectivity to WING, and to manage IoT devices across multiple cellular and satellite networks, operators, and regions via a single portal.
AT&T and Nokia said they would develop, test, and launch a new range of IoT services covering numerous industries, including transportation, health, manufacturing, retail, agriculture, utilities, consumer electronics, and smart cities.
The aim, the companies said, is to increase performance and flexibility, and lower latency for enterprise customers, addressing specific business requirements through capabilities such as 5G network slicing, which allows a single network to be partitioned into multiple smaller ones.
The two organisations also hope that the partnership will help businesses to meet local regulatory requirements for IoT devices.
Commercial deployment is set to begin later this year, and Nokia’s WING will be available in more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and the Middle East by the first quarter of 2020.
Both companies have been ramping up their IoT portfolios over the last few years. Most recently, Nokia acquired California-based analytics company SpaceTime Insight, which focuses on deploying IoT technologies in the energy, utilities, and transportation sectors.
“Our work with Nokia WING will help clear away the complexity of large-scale IoT adoption so that our customers can unlock the potential of IoT worldwide,” said Chris Penrose, president of IoT solutions at AT&T.
“Boosted by Nokia’s globally deployed ‘one-stop shop’ network technology, we can be more nimble and responsive to our customers’ needs,” he said.
“This collaboration proves our commitment to the global IoT market, providing seamless connectivity across geographical borders and technologies,” added Sanjay Goel, president of global services at Nokia.
“With AT&T’s leading position in IoT and proven experience meeting real customer needs, we have a winning combination to bolster our global IoT capabilities,” he said.
Internet of Business says
Collaborations such as these are spreading in IoT and 5G deployments: good news for the industry. However, an exclusive report published by Internet of Business earlier this year revealed that 5G technologies carry new types of security risk, specifically to do with network slicing and other new functionality. Find out why – and how to secure 5G deployments – in our expert panel report.