When the SailGP global sail racing league wanted to transfer data from its fleet of F50 foiling boats to enhance the broadcast of the race to fans, it had a challenge. It would have to transfer 240,000 data points per second from Internet of Things (IoT) devices on boats that might be traveling 60 miles per hour.
That’s a use case cited by T-Mobile for its 5G Advanced Network Solutions (5G ANS), a suite of 5G network options designed for enterprises. With 5G ANS and an Ericsson-based 5G Hybrid Mobile Network, T-Mobile was able to provide SailGP with the performance it needed.
“Our mission is to help enterprise customers realize the value of real-time data in making decisions that help their businesses run faster, more efficiently and stay ahead of the curve as 5G transforms the landscape,” Mishka Dehghan, senior vice president, strategy, product, and solutions engineering at T-Mobile Business Group, said in a press release announcing the launch of 5G ANS.
Enabling Contactless Shopping and Other Use Cases
With partnerships with Ericsson, Dell Technologies and Nokia, T-Mobile’s 5G ANS will bring private networks and mobile edge compute (MEC) to more businesses, support their use of artificial intelligence, robots, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Other use cases for this technology cited by T-Mobile include smart meters, industrial automation in a factory, fully autonomous robots and the delivery of AR and VR experiences that help companies with their training or field service.
MEC brings computing technology closer to the user so that the data travels a shorter distance and goes back and forth more quickly. Combined with 5G, this makes for lower latency, higher speeds and greater reliability.
Verizon recently deployed an MEC solution to power a retail shop that uses computer vision technology to enable contactless shopping in which customers tap their credit card as they enter the shop, take items from the shelves and leave, receiving a receipt via text minutes later.
Read more: 5G Powers Businesses’ Contactless Shopping, Untethered Internet Access, Backup Connections
The carrier reports that enterprise customers also use Verizon MEC for such applications as intelligent logistics, predictive maintenance, robotics and factory automation.
Reimagining Connectivity
AT&T made use of MEC to give the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine the connectivity it needs for a variety of smart technologies. The medical center accesses this connectivity to enable it to use wearable sensors, to connect more devices wirelessly, to transfer huge data files and to capture and analyze data faster and more securely, AT&T Vice President of Healthcare Solutions Joe Drygas wrote in a blog post.
“The fast data speeds, low latency and high capacity provided by the 5G network, combined with cutting-edge technologies, is helping the Institute reimagine the connectivity within healthcare and enhance the patient experience within the clinic,” Drygas wrote.
In the case of the MEC solution T-Mobile provided to SailGP, the data delivered will be used by the racing teams, coaches and fans.
“Making technology-driven decisions while flying above the water at highway speeds makes all the difference between winning and losing,” SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said in a press release. “It also gives fans an amazing viewing experience.”
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