American telecom network operator AT&T today announced its initiatives in the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart city businesses – at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2016).
AT&T is working with technology companies Cisco, Intel and Microsoft for building IoT apps.
AT&T, which competes with Verizon in both the IoT and smart city space, is working with the US-based networking equipment marker Cisco to combine IoT tools and technologies to help business to deploy and monetize IoT apps.
Developers using the AT&T Global SIM, AT&T Control Center and AT&T IoT Services have access to Cisco’s Fog computing solutions. They can use AT&T Flow Designer and AT&T M2X with Cisco’s Fog agent, Fog apps and Fog analytics.
In association with Intel, AT&T will bring AT&T Flow Designer, AT&T M2X and the Intel IoT Developer Kit to developers.
The US-based wireless major is also integrating IoT solutions with Microsoft’s cloud, analytics, and visualization tools. Developers that connect their devices through the AT&T Global SIM and AT&T Control Center can store their data in the Microsoft Azure cloud. They can use AT&T M2X and AT&T Flow Designer and access Microsoft Azure, big data, BI.
Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Internet to Things (IoT), AT&T Business Solutions, said: “We’re proud to have over 10,000 developers building solutions on our IoT Services platform. Our collaboration with industry leaders gives developers a set of tools to build IoT solutions that help companies stand out from their competitors.”
AT&T said it has doubled the number of connected devices from 13 million to more than 26 million in the last 4 years.
AT&T in smart city
AT&T is making investment in smart cities framework. Southern Company and Hitachi are now part of its smart city alliance. AT&T is adding two new spotlight cities to – Montgomery County, Maryland and Chapel Hill, North Carolina – to its list of smart city project.
“We are thrilled to be working with AT&T as a 2016 spotlight city. The project will utilize the IoT and advanced analytics to increase safety on several levels as well as enhance services provided to citizens,” said Scott Clark, CIO of the Town of Chapel Hill.
AT&T and Schneider Electric
Meanwhile, AT&T and Schneider Electric developed a proof of concept solution to access data from Electric Vehicle Charging (EVC) systems – enabling intelligent load distribution and effective energy access management. The proof of concept uses AT&T IoT solutions to wirelessly connect Schneider Electric’s EVlink charging stations to a cloud platform.
AT&T will be trialing the enhanced EVlink stations at Schneider Electric’s corporate offices in Dallas, Raleigh, NC, Nashville and Costa Mesa, CA.
AT&T, Intel and drone
Meanwhile, AT&T and Intel will test how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones work on a network designed to connect devices on the ground. Intel and AT&T will be working to solve major issues in the space, including connectivity.
AT&T’s IoT team and the AT&T Foundry innovation center in Palo Alto, Calif., will work with Intel to evaluate performance of the LTE network at higher altitudes and how it affects video streaming, transmitting telematics and flight information.
At MWC 2016, Intel will show the Yuneec Typhoon H with Intel RealSense Technology UAV, which will stream video and telematics from the air over LTE and use the AT&T core network.
Baburajan K
[email protected]
