Industry 4.0

NTT Data, the global system integrator division of Japanese telecoms group NTT, has signed a multi-year deal with US device maker Zebra Technologies, which has acquired a kind of Apple-like aura in the industrial sector for its specialist mobile devices, …

The World Economic Forum has listed 10 emerging technologies with the “greatest potential to make a positive impact in the world in the next three-to-five years”. Which is a curious kind of exercise, as it turns out, because five years …

The big problem for Industry 4.0 is that most manufacturing companies do not have a live view of production in their factories. Which means the sector’s big hopes about AI-assisted automation and efficiency are unrealistic. This is the conclusion of …

IBM’s research and development (R&D) unit has issued an interesting blog about domain-specific generative AI (gen AI) for Industry 4.0, which talks about how developers can convene around a “community-driven approach” to language model development. It has introduced a new …

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Nvidia have introduced a portfolio of joint AI solutions and integrations, together with joint sales tactics, to accelerate adoption of generative AI in Industry 4.0. They are presented under the banner Nvidia AI Computing by …

Telefónica Tech, the enterprise division of Spain-based operator Telefónica, has signed with IBM to develop AI solutions for enterprises in its home market. They will use the US firm’s Watsonx AI and data platform as the basis of all their …

Deutsche Telekom has made private 5G available in so-called millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum at 26 GHz for the first time in Germany. It claims the band allows for round-trip latencies of three to four milliseconds and download and upload data …

The new Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) sets a common regulatory and legal framework for the development and application of AI in the European Union (EU). It was proposed by the European Commission (EC) in April 2021 and passed in …

Private network operator and industrial connectivity specialist Citymesh has deployed a private 5G network – or rather upgraded an existing private LTE network – at the Nobelwind wind farm in the North Sea, about 50 kilometres off the Belgian coast. …

Nokia has polled 100 industrial enterprises with their own 4G/5G networks and found that the business case for private cellular is universally good, it has said. More than this, the Finnish vendor claims its limited sample of early-adopters, randomly picked …

Airspan Networks, with $95 million in fresh equity funding, has said it has been selected by Boldyn Networks to supply the private radio network (RAN) infrastructure for the city of Sunderland’s smart-city 5G project in the UK. The US vendor’s …

Aramco Digital, the digital technology services subsidiary of state-owned Saudi oil and gas company Saudi Aramco, has obtained a specialist licence to use the 450 MHz spectrum band in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to stand-up private enterprise networks of …

Note, this is an edited transcript of the opening address at Private Networks Global Forum last week. The whole event is available for registrants on-demand, for free (follow link). But this text which also forms the introduction of the summary …

Following hard on the heels of a similar-sounding deal with Google Cloud, Hitachi has announced a three-year partnership with Microsoft with a major focus on generative AI (gen AI) for its own staff and services, as well as for enterprise …

There was a good session last week at Private Networks Global Forum with Arvin Singh, head of global 5G solutions engineering at Verizon, and part of the US carrier’s global go-to-market team for private 5G. He was in conversation with …

Sigfox-parent Unabiz reckons it can now deliver a 90 percent “success rate” with Wi-Fi positioning on Sigfox trackers thanks to the addition of some AI/ML trickery to its Wi-Fi scanning software. Sigfox operator KYOCERA Communication Systems (KCCS) has claimed a …

Fujitsu is readying a generative AI framework to help enterprises manage large volumes of data, and comply with regulations for its governance. It will be offered with its enterprise AI platform, called Kozuchi, from July. It said the new framework …

Nokia has signed a research and development (R&D) deal with the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya university in India, formerly the country’s National Rail and Transportation Institute, to develop 5G and 6G solutions for the country’s transport and logistics sector. Their joint …

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has integrated its Athonet private 4G/5G product, acquired early last year, with its Aruba enterprise Wi-Fi portfolio. It said it is the “only global enterprise infrastructure vendor to provide comprehensive Wi-Fi and private 5G solutions”, and …

Home appliances manufacturer Haier Europe, part of the Fortune 500 smart-home division of China-based Haier Group, has appointed Orange Business to supply enterprise connectivity and IoT services, plus cybersecurity tools, to modernize and digitize its business operations in Europe, including …

According to a NTT Data executive, a private 5G network ensures real-time insights into control rooms, enabling Industry 4.0 applications such as machine vision and AGVs Private 5G is key to enable enterprises across all industries to embrace technologies like …

Electricity company EDF has accelerated its private LTE rollout at nuclear power plants in France with Ericsson and Thales. The firm, which originally scheduled two-to-four networks per year when the project was announced in 2021, told Private Networks Global Forum …

Annual spending on private 5G networks will grow at a compound rate (CAGR) of about 42 percent between 2024 and 2027, accounting for nearly $3.5 billion by the end of 2027, according to new research from SNS Telecom & IT, …

Taiwanese advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and private network provider Ubiik has convened a gang of chipset makers and module makers to develop a working supplier ecosystem around the new 1.8 GHz ‘utility’ band in Canada, reserved for power utilities. These …

Netherlands-based mobile operator KPN has launched a new edge 4G/5G product for large enterprises combining private and hybrid cellular, on-premise computing, and indoor localisation services. It is pitching the product, called simply KPN Campus, as a higher-performing local network infrastructure, …