Verizon released two pieces of 5G-related news Monday (June 28), announcing a new 5G-powered open hybrid cloud platform and showcasing a pair of robots that use 5G to communicate.
The cloud platform was created in partnership with IBM and Red Hat, with automated operations and service orchestration serving as the bedrock of its 5G core, according to an announcement from IBM.
“This work with Verizon comes at a critical time for the telco industry as telcos position to deliver on the fundamental transformation potential of 5G,” IBM said in its announcement. “With increased bandwidth, reduced latency and cloud native capabilities, telcos now have the opportunity to leverage their unique and trusted role in communications to capture value from enterprise 5G adoption.”
The company says this is important because this “platform transformation” lets telecoms combine connectivity and computing at a time when most communication service providers expect to outperform the financial expectations using 5G-enabled computing.
“In simple terms, telcos must become platform businesses, or face competing with them,” the IBM announcement said.
Meanwhile, Verizon unveiled the robots at the Mobile World conference in Barcelona, saying the machines communicate using 5G connectivity and mobile edge computing.
As Reuters reported Monday, 5G signals will provide the type of speedy data transfers that power the edge computing necessary for the robots to function in a workplace.
“When you have more than one robot on the floor, you run into a problem, as these are still just machines, and they can’t naturally communicate with one another,” Verizon Chief Strategy Officer Rima Qureshi said at the event. “5G will make it possible for robots to connect with other robots and devices of all kinds in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.”
Monday’s announcement follows this weekend’s news that Verizon could soon release a new smart display based on Amazon’s Alexa. As PYMNTS reported Sunday, Verizon filed plans for the device — called LVD1 — with the Federal Communications Commission.
This device will feature an 8-inch display and front-facing camera and will come to life when users say “Hi, Verizon.” It will come with 4GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and the BlueJeans video conference platform and will connect to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 4G.
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