Tag: AWS

How Verizon Business is Taking 5G Innovations to Phoenix

Verizon, the network America relies on, and Ericsson to demonstrate the latest 5G innovations at the Footprint Center on December 6

BASKING RIDGE, NJ – December 1, 2022 (Verizon Wireless) – Verizon Business will demonstrate the transformative benefits of its business solutions at the next installment of its 5G Innovation Sessions series, occurring at the Footprint Center on December 6. Executives from Verizon, Ericsson, the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury, Ticketmaster, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the City of Phoenix will demonstrate a range of forward-looking scenarios that leverage the power of 5G and Mobile Edge Computing, including real-time container tracking, collaboration robots, video scene analytics monitoring manufacturing assembly, real-time crowd analytics, interactive cityscapes, and Verizon Frontline’s Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response (THOR) and Mobile Utility Technology Transport (MUTT) vehicles. The program includes dynamic demonstrations by Verizon and Ericsson, speaker segments, and panel discussions.

“5G presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for businesses to supercharge productivity and innovation and gain an edge on the competition,” said TJ Fox, Senior Vice President, Industrial IoT & Automotive, Verizon Business. “The purpose of these sessions is to make sure businesses know how to take advantage of the capabilities that 5G enables, including a broad range of edge-computing and private-network applications that they might not be aware of. It’s all on full display at the 5G Innovation Session in Phoenix.”

The event will be held at the Footprint Center, located at 201 E. Jefferson St. Phoenix, AZ 85004 in Phoenix, featuring several prominent executives including:

  • TJ Fox, Senior Vice President and President, Industrial IoT and Automotive, Verizon Business;
  • Maggie Hallbach, President, Verizon Frontline, Verizon Business;
  • Mike Ruhnke, Vice President, US Corporate Enterprise Accounts, Verizon Business;
  • Danny Johnson, Director, Product Marketing, Verizon Business;
  • Dave Hickey, Vice President, West Business Markets, Verizon Business;
  • Cory Davis, Assistant Vice President, Public Safety, Verizon Frontline, Verizon Business;
  • Mitch Cooper, Vice President of Sales for Verizon, Ericsson North America;
  • Peter Linder, Head of 5G Marketing, Ericsson North America;
  • Dan Costello, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Phoenix Suns;
  • Steve Reese, Chief Information Officer, Phoenix Suns;
  • Mayor Kate Gallego, City of Phoenix;
  • Kara Kalkbrenner, Retired Fire Chief, City of Phoenix;
  • Kurt Schwartzkopf, Executive Vice President, Co-Head of Sports, NBA & NHL Arenas, Ticketmaster;
  • Anil Lalwani, Principal Product Manager, AWS

“We’re living in a remarkable period of innovation in both public safety and government,” said Maggie Hallbach, President of Verizon Frontline and Senior Vice President of Verizon Public Sector. “While in Phoenix, I’m looking forward to discussing and demonstrating just some of the transformative capabilities that our 5G network can unlock for our partners in the public sector, including the more than 30,000 public safety agencies nationwide that trust Verizon Frontline to provide reliable, mission-critical connectivity.”

“The low latency, built-in security, blazing fast speed and unmatched capacity that 5G can enable are bringing new capabilities and use cases to a wide range of industries,” said Mitch Cooper, Vice President of Sales for Verizon at Ericsson North America. “These sessions are a chance for people to see the power of these networks in person, and to imagine the possibilities 5G can bring to their businesses.”

To register for the Phoenix event, use this event link.

Verizon’s Commitment to Phoenix

In 2022, Verizon deployed 5G Ultra Wideband using C-band spectrum in many areas throughout Phoenix, adding coverage and capacity to serve customers throughout the Valley. Additionally, Verizon deployed 5G Ultra Wideband using mmWave spectrum strategically in Phoenix and neighboring cities like Tempe, Chandler and Scottsdale to increase performance and capacity. To manage increases in data usage and provide an enhanced experience at specific venues, Verizon engineers have replaced and enhanced the in-building system at the Phoenix Suns’ Footprint Arena in downtown Phoenix and in several hotels throughout the Valley, and engineers are deploying enhancements at the Phoenix Convention Center. Additionally, to meet the changing patterns of when and how customers use their devices, Verizon engineers in Phoenix have deployed additional 4G carriers to increase capacity in areas throughout the community.

Over the last decade, working through nonprofit partners and a suite of programs and resources, Verizon Innovative Learning has committed $1 billion in market value to support digital equity and inclusion within education for some of the most vulnerable populations across the country. The initiative is celebrating 10 years of providing free technology, internet access and resources to schools and educators across America, including Title I schools.

In Phoenix, over 15,000 students have been reached across 19 schools through the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program. This academic year, the program welcomed over 2,000 new students in the Roosevelt, Pendergast, Cartwright, Alhambra and Issac Elementary School Districts.

Additionally, all educators and students have access to Verizon Innovative Learning HQ, our free next-gen online education portal that provides XR content, professional development, and lesson plans. These efforts are part of Citizen Verizon, the company’s responsible business plan for economic, environmental and social advancement. Through Citizen Verizon, the company has a goal to provide 10 million youths with digital skills training by 2030.

Verizon realizes the importance of technology in helping small businesses succeed, which is why the company has a goal to support 1M small businesses by 2030. Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, a free online curriculum, was designed to give small businesses the tools they need to thrive in today’s digital economy, including access to personalized lesson plans, coaching from experts and networking opportunities with diverse, industry-specific businesses. Since launch in September 2021, more than 1,400 Phoenix-based businesses have been onboarded to the program.

Verizon announced today the availability of Spanish-language course offerings. Hispanic-owned small businesses can now access Spanish curriculum, coaching from experts, community events and personalized mentorship, as well as apply to receive a $10,000 grant as part of a $250,000 fund to help further support minority small businesses as part of Verizon Small Business Digital Ready.

Supporting first responders who serve Phoenix

During 2021, the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team deployed multiple times in support of public safety agencies in Arizona to provide mission-critical communications capabilities to the first responders on the front lines of emergency response operations.

Verizon Frontline devices and solutions ranging from mobile hotspots, routers and smart devices to deployable satellite solutions, such as Satellite Picocells on Trailers (SPOTs), were deployed in support of Arizona first responders.

This support has continued during 2022, as the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team has already participated in several public safety operations and training events alongside Arizona public safety agencies including deployments in support of wildland firefighters. This ongoing support is provided at no cost to local agencies and represents a continuation of Verizon Frontline’s commitment to investing and innovating in partnership with public safety and government.

Switch to the network Phoenix relies on

Because Verizon is the network Phoenix relies on, we’ve made it easy to switch with our new Welcome Unlimited plan – our best unlimited price ever for unlimited talk, text, and data on Verizon’s 5G Nationwide network. Looking to switch the whole family? Welcome Unlimited starts at just $30 per line (Auto Pay & paper-free billing required) per month for four lines (plus taxes and fees, with Auto Pay). You can learn more at verizon.com/plans.

About the 5G Innovation Sessions

Verizon’s 5G Innovation Sessions have so far taken place in Atlanta (July),  Houston (August),  Boston (September), Los Angeles (October) and New York City (November). The events cover a range of themes, including Managed Venue, Fixed Wireless Access, Private 5G, and Mobile Edge Compute.

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How 5G and Edge Computing Can Change Broadcasting

The broadcasting industry is looking to evolve by leveraging 5G and edge computing. This is because broadcasters are searching for ways to change content delivery methods, boost revenue opportunities, and personalize their offerings.

Bloomberg Media recently started a trial partnership to work on this project with Verizon, Zixi, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). They are trying to uncover how 5G and edge computing could transform the broadcasting industry. The end goal is to find ways to deliver improved live feeds and other content, and different ways in which viewers can consume news and broadcast content.

As time goes by, more of us consumers expect to have on demand content that is available to them 24/7. This is why we’re seeing more content via mobile applications. The key is to streamline the process while also providing high-quality video with low buffering requirements. 

The team has taken to performing trials that leverage products from each company. The products include Verizon 5G Edge, AWS Wavelength (a real-time computing platform), and Zixi’s SDVP and ZEN Master control plane (to reduce latency). These proof-of-concept trials demonstrate how 5G and edge computing rollouts could create a new generation of streaming and broadcast services. Also, by deploying content straight to 5G-enabled user devices, it could significantly reduce the strain for media companies.

Bloomberg media conducted trials using Bloomberg TV+ and 4K ultra-high-definition content that was streamed directly to 5G connected user devices. These tests are meant to help discover the edge of broadcast capability with 4k UHD.

If tests are successful media companies could then decide to stream ultra-high-definition content without the use of satellites. This is certainly something that could speed up capability. Bloomberg will also demonstrate how these products allow companies to split video into multiple streams for broadcast across multiple platforms. 

Another future trial will hopefully help to open content up to more consumers, by demonstrating real-time translation, subtitles, and transcription services.

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What Can Drones Do with 5G?

Verizon’s 5G Edge is now working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) with the help of a group of aerospace, robotics and software development engineers and former military personnel. Their company, Easy Aerial, uses autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) solutions, or drones, to protect and save lives.

Together with AWS Wavelength, they’ve created technology to enable near-real-time object detection for drones. The Easy Guard ground station, one of Easy Aerial’s product offerings, is described by the company as a “smart” aircraft hangar for takeoff, landing, and charging, and this “drone-in-a-box” solution was selected for exploring 5G integration. 

The 5G-enabled Easy Guard system allowed for a successful transmission of telemetry data from Easy Aerial drones. This made it possible to monitor flights in near-real-time. They were also able to reduce the data transmission rates of the drones by leveraging 5G for communications. This also provided reduced latency via use of 5G and mobile edge compute (MEC) on “AI-powered data processing,” Verizon notes in a description of the collaboration with Easy Aerial and AWS.

Per Verizon’s announcement, the integration of 5G and mobile edge computing for drone operations provided a savings of about 10% in drone costs. Flight time was also increased by about 40%.

Ivan Stamatovski, CTO of Easy Aerial, explained that a demonstration like this has not been attempted before, in part because of a lack of actual 5G coverage in the U.S.; however, Easy Aerial is optimally positioned to utilize both AWS and Verizon’s 5G Edge. 

Integrating 5G, according to Stamatovski, “opens up a lot of avenues for using small unmanned aircraft systems [sUAS] for all kinds of applications,” he told Avionics International. The team at Easy Aerial had developed the Easy Guard ground station and, after joining the 5G studio, began working on possible applications for 5G within the Easy Guard system.

Stamatovski explained that “typically, we would have our AI for people recognition and car detection, and we would run it on a local computer, but we said, ‘Since there’s limited space and limited power for it, let’s see if we can put that all on Amazon Edge.’” It was also important to have low latency for object detection so that processing would happen in real-time or near real-time. “We decided to go with Amazon Edge,” he said, “because the cloud is too far out there. The whole setup was made so that the drone talks to Amazon directly, and Amazon does the processing and AI with our algorithms that were deployed on the Edge. Then it communicates back to another 5G unit that is inside our Easy Guard.”

Stamatovski also commented on the benefits from using the high bandwidth for UAVs that Verizon 5G Edge and AWS Wavelength are able to provide. By processing data at the edge of the network—in near-real-time—“it shifts the paradigm on what is possible to achieve with airborne sensors,” he said.

“I was surprised with how fast it was. I don’t think many people have had a chance to really experience that speed,” Stamatovski shared. “The transfer speed was higher than when we had direct communication via ground link. It opens up possibilities to do all kinds of processing; there is no limitation on the size and weight of the computer that runs on the drone. You can have a whole room of servers running and use all of that processing power for your aerial vehicle.”

The partnership formed between Easy Aerial and Verizon seems to be one that will last, as they are already looking into new opportunities to demonstrate 5G integration.

“We’re working on a couple of demos with their development center and are going to deploy the same setup, just on the tethered variant of our drones,” Stamatovski remarked. “We’re now exploring all the variations that [Easy Aerial] has made, and seeing how much more we can do with 5G.”

Stamatovski addressed the IoT industry as well. He predicts that within the next five years, there will be new hardware developments available for Internet of Things (IoT) devices with high bandwidth consumption.

“This is really what 5G is all about: giving high bandwidth to all the IoT devices. It will enable a new crop of IoT companies [including Easy Aerial] that can provide real-time situational awareness and all kinds of sensor data to be harvested. It’s something that does not exist today.” For Easy Aerial, he said, the coming developments will help them to stay connected and utilize more of the computing power in the cloud.

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An Update on Dish Network’s 5G Rollout

Stepping up to the 5G game is Dish Network, who back in May reported they had plans to make their 5G network the end all, be all, of networks. Later, they also vowed to cover at least 10k sites with their 5G coverage by the end of 2022. 

Dish’s big play here is to utilize cloud based architecture for its standalone 5G network. This should allow them to provide more service to consumers as well as enterprises. They’ve already had time to work with AWS (Amazon Web Services) to host its 5G RAN and core. Network Chief of Dish Network, Marc Rouanne, said [at an AWS conference] that their decision will allow them to build a network optimized not just for human but also machine-to-machine communications.

Rouanne also discussed how their service will be a “network of networks,” where each sub-network is defined by the specific needs of each enterprise. This is where AWS comes into play – it is a platform where as a consumer, you can design the type of connection your application requires, and it’s done in a simplified way. 

“It’s not just one size fits all like we used to. It will be customizable by speed, latency…and many other features,” said Rouanne. 

On its cloud-based 5G network, “companies will be able to utilize aggregated and analyzed data to identify patterns and improve [the] customer experience,” Rouanne explained. He added the ability to drive automation at scale using artificial intelligence and machine learning will be critical in helping it manage the highly complex “network of networks” it envisions.

It’s pushing hard to bring its vision to life. Rouanne said it’s already able to create a nationwide network that it can “scale up and down at will, which would have taken years on the classical 4G or 5G network.” He added “We can literally move the software around, north and south, in hours, which again would have taken years in existing networks because it’s tied to tons of hardware.”

“Looking ahead, Dish is going to be the enabler of technology people have not even imagined yet,” Rouanne claimed.

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