Singtel advances 5G adoption for enterprises by partnering with Microsoft Azure to grow IoT and industrial applications. Through this partnership, Singtel becomes the first operator outside of the US to offer Azure public multi-access edge computing (MEC) for data processing and storage to be moved closer to end-users to significantly reduce latency and enhance overall network performance.
From advanced manufacturing to public safety, IoT and edge computing power real-time connectivity and insights to help transform operations and support mission-critical communications. With this latest offering, enterprises can deploy secured applications and process data on the edge or public MEC to address dynamic needs. Enterprises can capitalize on Singtel’s 5G network to explore high bandwidth and low latency use cases via Paragon, an orchestration platform that aggregates 5G networks, edge computing, public cloud and application ecosystems.
“We have been steadily building our public edge product ecosystem with our partners and have now expanded to include low-latency AI capabilities at the edge that our customers will find useful in taking their business to the next level,” said Bill Chang, chief executive officer, Group Enterprise, Singtel. “With Singtel 5G and Paragon and Microsoft Azure public MEC, customers can rapidly develop, test and deploy 5G applications such as autonomous guided vehicles, drones, immersive virtual reality and real-time digital twin use cases.”
Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president, Azure for Operators, said, “Singapore is at the forefront of innovation as its enterprises and public sector embrace new technologies like 5G, AI and security for its future. Our deep ecosystem collaboration with Singtel provides a unified compute solution from the cloud to the edge that will help organizations and developers build more Singapore-born innovation as we empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
This partnership is in line with Singtel’s role as a tech enabler to expand 5G capabilities and accelerate digital transformation. In the first commercial use case, the National University Health System (NUHS) taps into Azure public MEC technology and augmented reality to generate high-resolution 3D holograms via a mixed reality headset. Real-time data is sent via Singtel’s high-speed, low-latency 5G for surgeons to view and analyze these holograms to better visualize patients’ organs and plan for operating procedures. This also creates a more intuitive and immersive environment for surgery and research with 5G.
Singtel also collaborates with ecosystem partners, including Nvidia, Hiverlab and Quantiphi, to offer more business solutions. For instance, Singtel, Microsoft and NVIDIA jointly provide enterprises with a distributed edge video solution, leveraging 5G, compute and AI capabilities to improve workplace safety and monitoring in sectors such as manufacturing and construction.