Verizon, Deloitte partnerships targets manufacturing and retail verticals
Verizon Business is teaming with Deloitte to carry out joint innovation activities in the 5G and mobile edge computing (MEC) fields.
The two companies aims to design solutions to target both manufacturing and retail, and ultimately expand to other sectors.
The companies plan to create solutions to serve client-specific needs using Deloitte’s industry and solution engineering expertise combined with Verizon’s mobile and private enterprise wireless networks, 5G Edge MEC platform, IoT, Software Defined-Wide Area Network (SD-WAN), and VNS Application Edge capabilities.
Verizon and Deloitte are collaborating on innovative solutions for manufacturers with real-time intelligence and business agility by integrating technologies including 5G, MEC, computer vision and AI with cloud and advanced networking.
The companies are co-developing a smart factory solution at Verizon’s Customer Technology Center in Richardson, Texas, that will utilize computer vision and sensor-based detection coupled with MEC to identify and predict quality defects on the assembly line and automatically alert plant engineering and management in near real-time.
The companies will also introduce an integrated network and application edge compute environment for next generation application functionality and performance that reduces the need for manual quality inspection, avoids lost productivity, reduces production waste, and also lowers the cost of raw materials and improves plant efficiency.
“By bringing together Verizon’s 5G and MEC prowess with Deloitte’s deep industry expertise and track record in system integration with large enterprises on smart factories, we plan to deliver cutting-edge solutions that will close the gap between digital business operations and legacy manufacturing environments and unlock the value of the end-to-end digital enterprise,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “This collaboration is part of Verizon’s broader strategy to align with enterprises, startups, universities and government to explore how 5G and MEC can disrupt and transform nearly every industry.”
“In our recently published Deloitte Advanced Wireless Adoption study, over 85% of US executives surveyed indicated that advanced wireless is a force multiplier that will unlock the full potential of edge computing, AI, Cloud, IoT, and data analytics. Our collaboration with Verizon combines Deloitte’s business transformation expertise with advanced wireless and MEC technology to deliver game changing solutions,” said Ajit Prabhu, US Ecosystems & Alliances Strategy Officer and 5G/Edge Computing Commercialization leader, Deloitte Consulting.
Last week, Verizon said that an additional 24 million customers in Central Texas, Tulsa, Upstate New York, and the New England area now have access to the telco’s 5G network, bringing the total to 230 million people able to access Verizon’s 5G capabilities in over 2,700 cities across the U.S.
Verizon also said that customers in parts of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Albuquerque and Durham now have access to 5G Ultra Wideband, available in 61 cities, 48 stadiums and arenas and seven airports.
Verizon’s 5G network uses Dynamic Spectrum Sharing technology, which allows 5G service to run simultaneously with 4G LTE on multiple spectrum bands. This technology allows Verizon to use its full portfolio of current spectrum resources to serve both 4G and 5G customers.
