Elly Yates-Roberts |
Microsoft and Verizon are expanding their long-standing partnership to bring together Microsoft Azure and Verizon’s mobile edge computing (MEC) platform 5G Edge, with a view to accelerate the delivery of 5G applications and provide businesses with reliable and low-latency connections.
“We have built a network that provides real-world, 5G-enabled solutions today,” said Rima Qureshi, 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.”
By using on-site private 5G, “businesses will be able to realise increased power efficiencies and reduced costs of end-user devices while addressing their privacy and security needs,” says Microsoft.
Logistics and supply chain solutions company Ice Mobility is using the Microsoft-Verizon solution to help with computer vision-assisted product packing. By gathering data in near real-time on product packing errors, the company has improved on-site quality assurance and reduced processing times by 15-30 per cent.
“We are especially excited to join Verizon and Microsoft to test how 5G and MEC can improve the quality assurance process,” said 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.”