GE Research’s 5G Mission Leader: ‘5G can accelerate the path to everything’
Verizon Business and GE Research have announced the development of a cross-industry testbed powered by the carrier’s millimeter-wave (mmWave) network, referred to as 5G Ultra Wideband. The pair have already begun the process of installing Verizon’s mmWave network on GE’s Research campus and the eventual plan is for the network to connect one million devices per square mile, which is 10x greater than 4G.
“For us,” stated GE Research’s 5G Mission Leader, Dr. SM Hasan, “it’s about enabling thousands of assets to be managed in real-time at one-time. 5G’s speed, scale, and near-instantaneous response time are opening new levels of capabilities in the management of assets and operations that engineers previously could only dream of using.”
Hasan and GE are hopeful that 5G will bring the speed and capacity necessary for GE to “take full advantage of a multitude of digital technologies to transform industrial assets and operations.”
“From AI and machine learning to digital twins and autonomous technologies, 5G can accelerate the path to everything from self-driving cars and digital health to more resilient, reliable energy grids powered by more carbon-free energy assets like intelligent wind farms,” Hasan said.
According to Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business, the capabilities of the carrier’s 5G platform “provide the perfect testbed for GE’s research team to build the next-generation, real-time solutions that will transform every industry.”
“There’s never been a more critical time to build the 21st century infrastructure built on mobility, broadband and cloud and our 5G sits right at the epicenter,” she added.
Verizon is hard at work, continuing to activate its 5G mmWave networks in parts of more cities, most recently New Orleans, Louisiana; Fresno and Riverside, California, and San Antonio, Texas. The carrier is also expanding its mmWave-based 5G Home internet service to three additional cities is making good on its plans to deploy C Band-supporting network hardware. The carrier said that it is already working with Ericsson and Samsung to ensure that C Band network equipment will be in place to support Verizon’s goal to cover 100 million customers by March 2022.
