In this vignette of The 5G Factor, Ron Westfall and Todd R. Weiss provide their perspective on how Deutsche Telekom is testing its new “Campus Network Smart” 5G network product with Microsoft in a lab setting in Bonn, Germany.
The discussion focused on:
Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft Azure Test New Private 5G Capabilities. The Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft tests are working on “Campus Network Smart,” which will be delivered by the partners when it is completed. The new offering augments DT’s current portfolio of private 5G networks for industrial use in Europe. The new campus solution is built on Microsoft Azure private MEC, which includes the Azure Private 5G Core service deployed on Azure Stack Edge. We evaluate the potential benefits of DT’s Campus Network Smart offering and look at potential use cases such as AR-enabled remote support, robotics, video analytics, and IoT.
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Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Transcript:
Ron Westfall: We’re also seeing, for example, across the English Channel, Deutsche Telekom testing its new private G network solution with Microsoft as well. This time it’s in a lab environment in Bonn. So Deutsche Telekom is emphasizing that this launch is following a successful pilot that they had with a major pharmaceutical company in Germany. So this is establishing, okay, this is something that has actual real-world capabilities. So now what we’re seeing is that DT is saying that the new offering compliments its current portfolio of 5G private networks for industrial use in Germany. I think, yes, that DT has done a pretty remarkable job in that regard in terms of establishing private wireless as certainly a viable use case, but also something that the telcos themselves can make a major contribution. As we know there’s a do-it-yourself option. From my view, that’s a bit limited in its applicability, but there will be enterprises that will try that.
But also you have managed service offerings that involve, say, the cloud providers and specialists who focus on wireless connectivity, and certainly private 5G is a big part of that mix now. So clearly the telcos I think can have a huge role in this because their forte, their DNA is in spectrum, it’s in radio access technology and so forth, you get the idea. So private wireless and private 5G in particular, I think, is well-suited for them to diversify their revenue streams. With that in mind, we’re seeing their collaboration with Microsoft specifically taking on the Azure MEC capability, which includes the Azure Private 5G Core service that is deployed on, naturally, the Azure Stack Edge. This can provide customers with a campus network offering, which includes the planning, the building of the private network using, again, the Azure services with RAN components as well as the operations offered as one unified package managed service that I touched on.
Now further boosting of the DT private 5G network solution in combination with Microsoft is DT, Ericsson, Avenir and Ciena’s Blue Planet recently did a joint demonstration that showed the benefits of multi-domain orchestration with open APIs to automatically create new slice-based services on demand. So this is coming together. Yes, as you can see, there’s intricacy here involved. It has to involve multi-domain orchestration, being able to sustain clearly the commitment to open networking. Certainly open RAN comes to mind, but certainly it’s the overall open 5G mission that’s important here. As well as again, using AI to help drive the automation that’s going to be integral to enabling network slicing, which I believe is something that the operators can really take advantage of because it’s a connectivity type of offering. Again, connectivity is something that the operators, the CSPs know thoroughly well. With that, Todd, now, what is your take on what’s going on here with what DT is doing in terms of private 5G?
Todd R. Weiss: Well, it’s always interesting to me whenever we’re talking about something interesting, innovative, different, it always comes up, Deutsche Telekom is probably behind it. I don’t know, but this company seems to look ahead and they seem to look at things that are, they’re Germans. The Germans are very focused on making things better, finding ways to analyze them, finding ways to do things. It’s been that way through technology. Automobiles, German automobiles, look how incredibly well-built they are. Anyway, but here in this space, to me, this is always a really interesting thing. To me, Deutsche Telekom TeamViewer Frontline xAssist, this is fascinating. It’s an augmented reality remote support product. It can also be added to that campus network smart product you were talking about. This whole thing allows experts to connect remotely to a pair of AR glasses, augmented reality while 5G connectivity then allows for live support and knowledge transfer while potentially reducing costs by eliminating travel and minimizing downtime.
This to me, I swear to God, Ron, I’m thinking of this as we’re looking at it, and I’m thinking 2001: A Space Odyssey. We’re seeing Google Glass came out, was that in 2008 I think, or 11? Somewhere between 2008 to 2011, it was seen as, “Oh, my God, this is going to be amazing.” I remember writing stories about it when I was writing as a tech journalist about Google Glass, how Google Glass is going to be used by a jet engine repair person. They’re standing there under the engine in front of the engine and they see in the corner of their eye the manual for this engine, and they can get the torque spec for this fastener, or they can get whatever information they need, or they can look at a parts catalog and say, “Oh, yes, I need to order that part,” and order it.
We saw that for a couple of years, then Google Glass went away and other things have come up. But even now, 10 years later, 15 years later, we still haven’t seen a monetized version of something like this that’s really happening in the enterprise for big companies to be able to do this kind of work. This thing from Deutsche Telekom, this might finally make it happen. I really feel like this is the kind of thing that it took a brilliant idea and then a way to monetize it, and now maybe we’re at that place. So I really think this is amazing. Deutsche Telekom also said that a broad selection of robotics, video analytics and IoT use cases will be made available, which is what I’m saying. They’re monetizing these things that we were just imagining 10, 15 years ago, and these things will be tailored to specific customer needs, like we’re talking about creating end-to-end services for customers. I think this is amazing and let’s hope that this time it’s for real.
Ron Westfall: To your point, I like the 2001: A Space Odyssey analogy because your point about the first iterations of VR and AR having limited commercial impact happen to coincide with the Les Herald to 2010 SQL to 2001 with Roy Schneider in it. So I think it’s demonstrating an important point. This is still a use case that has a great deal of potential, but the breakthrough hasn’t really happened on a society-wide basis or on a broader basis, like when Uber broke out or Netflix broke out in terms of here’s a great use case that’s leveraging advances in mobile technology. I think we see other players like Qualcomm making important contributions to advancing AR, VR capabilities at the chip set level, also labeled XR extended reality. What I think is also interesting on the business side is that it can, I think, enhance and augment things like research and design.
Being able to leverage an AR capability can definitely, again, streamline the overall research process, be able to more comprehensively conceptualize how this design will work more effectively and likewise with companion technologies and capabilities such as digital twins, which I think definitely has more potential. So yeah, it’s brewing. I think a key factor will be when the operators on a more mainstream level, i. e., the majority who have deployed 5G, start using 5G standalone right now, it’s only about a quarter. So once that number moves, once that needle moves, then I can see what you’re talking about. This is something that I think deutsche.com, we agree, is really more at the forefront and as a result can encourage other operators to pick up the mantle more.
Todd R. Weiss: I want to add something. It’s also, it’s incredible. This was all with Google, the Google Glass thing. That’s a consumer-y company. Finally, we’re seeing this actually start with a tech company, a tech company that’s focused at enterprises, at business. That’s why I think this is finally going to be effective and happen because Google Glass for the consumer market, that wasn’t going to work. But for business, showing business how a telecom company, which already gives them premiere telecommunications now is adding this thing which will give them almost live, well, not almost, but live video communications as well that can help them solve these problems. A repair person out in the field at a remote site, an oil and gas place where they can’t communicate, now through satellite or 5G or enhanced 5G, whatever they can bring in, oh, my God, that person can now connect and find out, “Hey, in this remote space where the temperatures are terrible, whatever, I need somebody to look over my shoulder.”
Now we can do that kind of thing, and it’s all because telecoms are involved. If this works for DT, oh man, if it’s for Deutsche Telekom makes this work, Verizon’s going to have it. T-Mobile’s going to have it. Everyone’s going to build these things. So this is the start, and that’s where the innovation from Deutsche Telekom is… Like I said, that’s where the innovation, when it starts, it just gets bigger and bigger. So this is the thing I believe really firmly, we didn’t see it with Google Glass 15 years ago. I think, I predict, we’re going to see it this time. This is where it’s going to finally launch because it brings together telecom and these needs and these reliable infrastructures of 5G and satellite and all these things. That to me, is where this is finally going to work, and we’re going to see it happen over the next couple of years. It’s really going to be amazing to watch.
Ron Westfall: Yeah, and I think that’s right on cue because I was thinking remote locations, what else are the operators doing to deliver 5G capabilities that can make a big difference to have an impact on society and-
Todd R. Weiss: It all fits together. It’s like pieces coming together with a puzzle.
Ron Westfall: Exactly.
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Author Information
Ron is an experienced, customer-focused research expert and analyst, with over 20 years of experience in the digital and IT transformation markets, working with businesses to drive consistent revenue and sales growth.
Ron holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from University of Nevada — Las Vegas and a Bachelor of Arts in political science/government from William and Mary.
