Deutsche Telekom, Microsoft launch 5G private networks offering

Deutsche Telekom tested the new private 5G network solution with Microsoft in a lab environment in Bonn

German carrier Deutsche Telekom launched its new “Campus Network Smart” solution, which will be delivered in collaboration with Microsoft, the operator said in a release.

Deutsche Telekom noted that the launch follows a successful pilot with a leading pharmaceutical company in Germany.

Deutsche Telekom also said that the new offering complements its current portfolio of 5G private networks for industrial use in Europe. The new campus solution is built on Microsoft Azure private multi-access edge compute (MEC), which includes the new Azure Private 5G Core service deployed on Azure Stack Edge.

The telco also noted that the newly developed concept integrates new and existing customer applications to quickly deliver secure, cloud-managed solutions at the edge.

Deutsche Telekom will provide customers with a complete campus network offering, which includes planning, the building of the private network using Azure services with radio access network components, as well as operations offered as a packaged managed service.

TeamViewer Frontline xAssist, an augmented-reality remote-support solution, can also be added to Campus Network Smart, the carrier said. This solution allows experts to connect remotely to a pair of AR glasses, while 5G connectivity then allows for live support and knowledge transfer, while reducing costs by eliminating travel and minimizing down-time.

The German company also stated that a “broad selectio”n of robotics, video analytics and IoT use cases will also be made available, tailored to specific customer needs, creating an end-to-end service.

Deutsche Telekom tested the new private 5G network solution with Microsoft in a lab environment in Bonn, Germany, last year. As a second step, the two companies carried out a field trial with a leading pharmaceutical company in Germany, beginning in February this year. This pilot customer tested the 5G campus network with various use cases, including the use of AR glasses for remote maintenance. Another use case saw forklifts enabled for object recognition in a high-bay warehouse, in order to monitor inventory and automatically scan barcodes, Deutsche Telekom said.

Hagen Rickmann, managing director of business customers at Deutsche Telekom, said: “Our new 5G Campus Network Smart solution lowers the barriers to entry for campus networks, in terms of both cost and effort.  Customers with an existing Microsoft Azure landscape, as well as new customers in the small and medium-sized enterprise segment benefit from the solution. They can get started with 5G technology and drive forward their digitalization – while maintaining flexibility.”

“German industry is taking a leading role in adopting Industry 4.0 Transformation, and we are excited to enable Deutsche Telekom to provide complete solutions including network and a growing ecosystem of modern connected apps into this market. Customers can now benefit with a choice of ready to deploy applications over superior cloud-managed private network to accelerate their business transformation,” said Shriraj Gaglani, VP of product management at Microsoft.

Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Mavenir and Blue Planet (which is a division of Ciena) recently said they have jointly demonstrated the benefits of multi-domain orchestration with open APIs to automatically create new slice-based service offerings on-demand.

Deutsche Telekom explained that the joint proof-of-concept showcased how enterprises can place a service order in Deutsche Telekom’s customer portal, which starts the configuration of a secure, dedicated network slice with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) levels that are specific to their connectivity requirements.

The German carrier noted that slices are implemented as a dynamic and automated end-to-end service offering that is activated in minutes across the 5G network from the User Equipment (UE) to the enterprise user’s application.