Microsoft, Verizon join forces to accelerate delivery of 5G applications

Verizon has announced it is joining forces with Microsoft to create new ways for enterprises to accelerate the delivery of fast and secure 5G applications, benefiting from reliable and low latency connections.

Verizon's on-site 5G Edge network integrated with Azure edge services can enable ultra-low latency, many times faster than the blink of an eye, which can help businesses tap into real-time data analysis and delivery.

Applications incorporating computer vision, augmented, mixed and virtual reality, digital twins or machine learning can be enhanced with 5G and MEC on the customer premise, helping transform the way industries such as retail, transportation, and logistics operate.

Think of automated high-precision asset localisation, tracking and positioning in manufacturing.

In healthcare, the increased speed, reduced latency and high bandwidth connectivity of 5G networks could enable real-time precision medicine leveraging mixed reality and AI capabilities as well as seamless and fast sharing of large files to improve patient care.

The collaboration brings Azure cloud and edge capabilities together with Verizon's on-site 5G Edge, a mobile edge computing platform designed to enable developers to build applications for mobile end-users and wireless edge devices with ultra-low latency. By providing on-site private 5G, businesses will realise increased power efficiencies and reduced costs of end user devices, while helping to address their privacy and security needs.

"We have built a network that provides real-world, 5G-enabled solutions today," says Rima Qureshi, EVP and chief strategy officer at Verizon.

"By bringing together Verizon's 5G network and on-site 5G Edge platform with Microsoft's expertise in cloud services, we will enable the development of the next generation technologies everyone has been envisioning.

Logistics and supply chain solutions company Ice Mobility is already testing on Verizon's on-site 5G Edge platform, integrated with Microsoft Azure. The company is using 5G and MEC to help with computer vision assisted product packing. By gathering data in near real-time on product packing errors, the company has the potential to improve on-site quality assurance and save 15% to 30% in processing time.

"We are especially excited to join Verizon and Microsoft to test how 5G and MEC can improve the quality assurance process," says Mike Mohr, CEO of Ice Mobility.

 "They truly have listened to our needs to provide automated real-time quality oversight and feedback, which will enable us to cost-effectively launch unique new products, while maintaining the highest execution standards, significantly increasing throughput and reducing costs. And, this is just the beginning.

Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president Azure for Operators at Microsoft says, "By leveraging Verizon's 5G network integrated with Microsoft's cloud and edge capabilities, developers and businesses can benefit from fast, secure and reliable connections to deliver seamless digital experiences from massive industrial IoT workloads to precision medicine."

Moving forward, Verizon will explore opportunities to co-innovate with Microsoft to deliver new value to industries ranging from manufacturing to healthcare.