What’s up with… Verizon, IBM, Jio, Guavus

• Verizon and IBM team up for Industry 4.0
• The 5G Future Forum is prepping edge specs
• India’s Jio has developed all its 5G tech in-house
• Guavus ups its IQ

Edge computing, with significant involvement from Verizon, dominates this roundup of industry developments. 

• Verizon Business and IBM are to collaborate on “5G and edge computing innovation to help enable the future of Industry 4.0.” The combination of Verizon’s 5G, edge computing, IoT devices and “sensors at the edge” with IBM’s “expertise in AI, hybrid multicloud, edge computing, asset management and connected operations” is a winning one, the pair believe. “Many industrial enterprises are today seeking ways to use edge computing… the first solutions planned from this collaboration are to be mobile asset tracking and management solutions to help enterprises improve operations, optimise production quality, and help clients enhance worker safety,” Verizon stated in this press release.
• In more edge-related action from Verizon… The 5G Future Forum, in which the US operator is a leading actor, says it will release its first set of Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) technical specifications in August. The release of the specs – designed for telcos, hyperscalers, OEMs, developers and enterprises – will, the Forum believes, be “a major step forward in enabling global interoperability for 5G and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) deployment to deliver efficient and innovative services to end customers.” The Forum was founded earlier this year by América Móvil, KT Corp., Rogers, Telstra, Verizon, and Vodafone to “develop 5G interoperability specifications to accelerate the delivery of 5G and MEC solutions around the world.” For more details, see this announcement. But here’s a question – exactly how many different industry groups are currently developing the same kinds of telco edge specifications? Answers on an open source postcard please…
• The tech team at India’s leading mobile operator, Reliance Jio, has “designed and developed a complete 5G solution from scratch,” Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani told the company’s AGM this week. “This will enable us to launch a world class 5G service in India, using 100% homegrown technology and solution…  And because of geo converged all IP network architecture, we can easily upgrade our 4G network to 5G.” Jio hopes to be able to launch 5G services in 2021, as long as licenses and spectrum become available – and in India, the timing of such awards is not easy to predict.
• Analytics and big data specialist Guavus has launched Guavus IQ, a portfolio of analytics tools for mobile operators designed to increase operational efficiencies, improve customer experience and help operators to develop new revenue-generating services. For more details, see this announcement.
• Equinix is building an additional Italian data and colocation centre in Milan, due to open in the first quarter of 2021. Equinix says it’s seeing increasing digital transformation in Italy and demand for facilities has been accelerated due to the shifting data usage patterns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. 
• Here’s what looks like a highly insensitive move… The union representing BT managers, Prospect, has condemned a proposal by the UK national operator to close its offices in Aberdeen while the pandemic is still ongoing and staff are working from home. BT is planning relocations and redundancies as part of the move. "Why now, when most people are successfully working from home and seem likely to be doing so for the foreseeable future?" asks John Ferrett, Prospect's national secretary. Fair point?
• The EU-US Privacy Shield, a legal get-out designed to let companies sign up to higher privacy standards before transferring data to the US, has been struck down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). As things now stand, the US will have to change its surveillance laws if US companies that transfer user data to the US are to continue operating in Europe. Could be another point of contention...

- The staff, TelecomTV