From smart factories to autonomous robots or vehicles, there are many ways that 5G and multi-access edge compute (MEC) can transform industries. However, most enterprises are still experimenting with those technologies instead of scaling them throughout the organisation.
“Many enterprises are starting to understand how 5G [and MEC] can transform their operations, but I think they are still in the midst of figuring out what investments [are needed to benefit from those technologies]. It involves a lot of change of systems, devices, processes and people, so they’ll need to have [a strong business case] to maximise those investments,” says Bill Chang, chief executive officer, Group Enterprise and Regional Data Centre Business at Singtel, at a media briefing today.
This is why Singtel and Intel today launched a 5G MEC incubator that will enable enterprises to adopt 5G seamlessly, deploy applications that need low latency processing at the edge, and drive innovation.
The incubator will be powered by Intel’s 4th Gen Xeon Scalable processors and Intel Data Center GPU, codenamed Ponte Vecchio. It will also be supported by Singtel’s Paragon, a one-stop orchestration platform for 5G edge computing and cloud services that will simplify the adoption of these 5G services for enterprises.
“Paragon will enable enterprises – be it big or small – to extract value from 5G without having to invest a lot. Paragon is not just about connectivity but also about unleashing services – it [combines] networks with edge compute. We orchestrate that with services or applications, making it simpler for enterprises to consume it so [5G and MEC are] not limited to the biggest enterprises,” he says.
Christoph Schell, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Intel, adds: “Our collaboration with Singtel will help accelerate the use of [5G, edge, AI and cloud] to solve real business challenges by utilising our unique combination of hardware and software spanning Xeon, GPUs, Smart Edge, OpenVINO and more, and also a broad portfolio of ecosystem innovations.
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Through the incubator, enterprises can tap into Singtel and Intel’s ecosystem to deliver their 5G use cases, including ready-to-deploy applications for rapid trials and proof of concepts for research and development.
Some of the ongoing trials include:
- Ipsotek’s VISuite AI software, which converts video data into actionable intelligence to optimise real-time situational awareness and enables users to efficiently manage automatically generated alarms in real-time for enhanced safety at their worksites.
Leveraging Singtel’s 5G Network and Paragon, Intel Xeon platforms for Edge, and Axis analytics, VISuite AI can detect workers at risk and differentiate between objects and humans, including if they are not donned in the appropriate Personal Protection Equipment.
- With HTC’s integrated mixed reality solution and private network, Singtel’s 5G Network and Paragon, the companies developed a 5G real-time mixed reality solution that integrates 5G, virtual reality and 3D visualisation.
This offers a highly efficient way of collaborating with real-time data streaming, visualisation, review and validation to support different verticals for real-time workspace collaboration. HTC also provides Private Network solutions powered by Intel FlexRAN.
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“No customers will buy 5G just because carriers are producing 5G unless they help customers understand the power of 5G and why it is so important. We’ve been able to create – to a large extent – some of this pull rather than push, and we’re seeing more and more customers [being more open to adopting 5G and MEC],” says Chang.
Besides the 5G MEC incubator, Singtel has been embarking on multiple initiatives to expand its 5G ecosystem and engagement with enterprise customers.
One of those initiatives is the 5G Garage, which helps incubate, develop and trial 5G solutions for enterprises. Conceptualised by Singtel and Ericsson, the facility serves as a training centre, test bed and ideation lab to develop Singapore’s 5G ecosystem and drive the adoption of 5G by enterprises in their digital transformations.
Besides that, Singtel also provides a platform called GENIE, which enables companies to set up portable 5G networks and trial use cases on-premise within 60 minutes. This can be useful for large enterprises that need to test 5G before they decide to invest in their own dedicated network.
