T-Mobile US introduces off the shelf 5G solutions for industry niches

US operator T-Mobile has launched a suite of ‘ready-to-deploy’ solutions for smart cities and businesses operating in the retail, manufacturing, and logistics sectors.

Advanced Industry Solutions is a suite of connectivity bundles which include compute, devices, and app elements aimed at things like autonomous factories. The idea is there is a selection of industry specific packages designed to suit the needs of retail, manufacturing, logistics, and smart cities. T-Mobile acts as a sort of systems integrator/project manager, sourcing and managing all the elements of the deployment.

The release makes the point that in order to deploy a cutting-edge private 5G solution with all the bells and whistles that might come with it, whether it’s geared up towards parking space utilization, asset loss prevention, or temperature monitoring, businesses could have to work with multiple vendors and partners. ‘Which is immensely time-consuming, considering that it takes an average of six months to onboard ONE vendor. And that’s before any revenue-producing work can happen,’ we’re told.

The solutions are divided into four categories:

For retail, T-Mobile highlights capturing things like foot traffic, dwell time, and peak hours via industry-specific solutions like Retail Lite, a retail analytics product.

For manufacturing, heatmap activity tracking for optimising layout and augmented reality technology to improve employee training is mentioned.

For logistics, there is supply chain tracking, bottleneck management, and connected vehicles with fleet management and telematics.

And for smart cities, smart monitoring for enhanced security, parking and traffic flow optimization, and stronger event and open space connectivity are being offered.

“We are on the precipice of billions of AI-powered devices, all connected by 5G with efficient application processors, all converging to provide intelligent data-driven insights,” said Callie Field, President, T-Mobile Business Group. “Technologies are pushing the limits of most companies’ IT organizations. That’s why we’ve been working closely with many of these organizations to develop specific solutions that address their unique challenges. Our Advanced Industry Solutions enable easier and simpler implementation — from vision to ROI — all backed by an ecosystem of world-class partners and America’s leading 5G network.”

They’re overegging it a bit because there are other firms that will act as a systems integrator for such deployments, but it’s fair to say one thing that’s likely to put off particularly smaller firms from kitting themselves out with private 5G, IoT sensors, and all the latest gizmology is the fact it probably seems quite daunting as to how you go about it, and the benefits can sometimes be described in nebulous ways.

While the salespeople flogging such things probably talk a lot about the bespoke nature of each deployment, seeing something a bit more standardised and off the shelf could make it easier for many to understand exactly what it is they’d be getting by upgrading their business in such a way, and plugging everything down to the foreman’s belt buckle into the internet.

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