Deutsche Telekom is to introduce a cheaper and simpler private 5G network offer for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using Microsoft’s multi-access edge compute (MEC) bundle, which includes a cellular core network and “RAN components” from the Redmond firm, plus sundry compute and application services. The German outfit said the new SME offer, available on a managed service on a per-usage basis, complements the rest of its ‘campus network’ portfolio.
Deutsche Telekom said it has tested the Azure-based offer in a lab environment in Bonn, Germany, and is running further tests with an unnamed (“leading”) pharmaceutical company in Germany. The latter is using the setup to connect AR glasses for remote maintenance and forklifts in a high-bay warehouse for object recognition and inventory management. There is no word on its full commercial availability.
But the German outfit said it wants a “scalable, pay-as-you-grow model” to “lower the barrier to entry” for SMEs interested in private 5G as a networking platform for digital change. The Microsoft proposition will support a “broad selection” of pre-certified robotics, video analytics, and IoT use cases, it said. These will be available in modular form in the Azure cloud, to be “tailored to specific customer needs” and stitched into an “end-to-end” managed service. It will provide a “complete campus network build-out, from planning to building… using Azure services,” it said.
Hagen Rickmann, managing director of business customers at Deutsche Telekom in Germany, said: “Our new 5G campus network solution comes with low entry barriers regarding costs and effort. Therefore, we can not only address customers with an existing Microsoft Azure landscape, but also new customers in the segment of small and medium-sized businesses. They can adopt 5G technology easily and push their digitalization further – while maintaining flexibility”.
Shriraj Gaglani, vice president of product management at Microsoft, said: “German industry is taking a leading role in adopting Industry 4.0 Transformation, and we are excited to enable Deutsche Telekom to provide complete solutions including network and a growing ecosystem of Modern Connected Apps into this market. Customers will benefit with a choice of ready to deploy applications over superior cloud-managed private network to accelerate their business transformation.”
