It’s been an exciting week for AT&T, and as a result, the IoT. Starting with the company’s big announcement last week at the IoT Evolution Expo that it has a new CAT-M1 network on deck, the Big Bell isn’t slowing down at all, so I thought I’d bring you some highlights.
AT&T to Provide Network Connectivity to the Array of Things Project
Array of Things has selected AT&T to be its preferred provider for wireless connectivity in order to connect its urban-sensing project, designed to gather critical data about a city’s environment and infrastructure and ultimately help make that city more livable and more efficient.
The project will begin in Chicago, where the AoT plans to install hundreds of sensor-based nodes in the city to measure factors related to air quality, noise, climate and traffic congestion. The data collected from the sensors will be transmitted in a highly secure manner over the AT&T wireless network to a central database server at the Argonne National Laboratory, where it will be processed and released openly to the public. Researchers, city services and technology developers will be able to use the data to address energy efficiency, traffic safety, urban flooding, air pollution and many more urban challenges.
“A project of this scale requires sophisticated data management to fulfill our commitment to provide accurate and open data for the community,” said Charlie Catlett, director, Urban Center for Computation and Data, and project lead. “AT&T is an innovator and leader in IoT and smart cities, and we're grateful they're helping enable this ambitious endeavor.”
AoT will begin installing sensor nodes in Chicago this summer, with a total of 500 nodes active in Chicago by the end of 2018.
AT&T and IBM Team Up to Bring IoT Capabilities to Developers on IBM Cloud
AT&T and IBM are working together to help businesses accelerate IoT initiatives by combining cognitive computing and global connectivity to create open standards-based tools on the IBM Cloud, with the goal of helping developers to more quickly build and implement IoT solutions.
IBM and AT&T are expanding their full commitment and investment in open-source based tools, such as Node-Red, and open standards like MQTT, all essential for creating IoT solutions. In addition, developers can now add the power of IBM's Watson cognitive computing and AT&T's IoT Platforms like Flow Designer and M2X, and access to its global network. This combination of open standards and IBM's and AT&T's unique technologies will result in a new level of IoT possibilities and solutions for developers to leverage well into the future.
“We have heard the call from developers and businesses for more tools to make IoT a reality and together with AT&T, we are bringing together powerful platforms and services to drive collaborative innovation,” said Harriet Green, GM, IoT, Commerce & Education, IBM Watson. “This collaboration enables individual developers to tap the power of cognitive computing and combine it with massive amounts of data streaming from billions of connected devices, sensors and systems to create solutions that can help transform businesses and society alike.”
AT&T Unveils New IoT Starter Kit for Developers
AT&T is introducing an all-in-one IoT Starter Kit to help developers jumpstart IoT projects. The AT&T IoT Starter Kit provides all the tools needed for IoT innovation, including connectivity, LTE hardware, application services, cloud storage and more. The kit is built on the plug-and-play model, which means developers won’t need to purchase technology from multiple vendors to get a new IoT project started.
The new IoT Starter Kit includes: an AT&T Global SIM that works in 200 countries and territories; an LTE modem that runs on the AT&T LTE network; access to AT&T Control Center, an industry-leading IoT connectivity management platform; an expandable development board that works with a wide range of plug-in sensors; an API to monitor the network connection and data transfer; REST APIs, including easy-to-follow documentation and the ability to quickly test APIs without any coding; cloud storage to host, manage and share data across multiple groups; access to AT&T Flow Designer, which helps developers launch IoT apps in minutes; and a microcontroller carrier board with Arduino compatible expansion slot.
“Developers are the ones driving innovation in the IoT industry,” said Chris Penrose, SVP, IoT Solutions, AT&T. “Our new IoT Starter Kit creates a faster and easier way for them to create IoT solutions. We’re now offering a one-stop shop to help transform their ideas into impactful IoT services.”
AT&T is working closely with Avnet and Cisco to produce the IoT Starter Kit. AT&T is offering variations of the IoT Starter Kit that work with other leading third-party IoT solutions. This includes versions made specifically for developers using IBM Watson IoT and the Microsoft Azure IoT Suite – which also integrate with the Cisco IoT service platform.
AT&T Network Gets High with Drones
John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president, Technology and Operations, AT&T, recently published a blog post that outlines the company’s plans to use drones to improve its network coverage and other services. In fact, the company just recently launched the trial phase of its national drone program. AT&T is already using drones to perform aerial inspections of cell towers. Other possible uses, Donovan wrote, include Flying COWs (Cell on Wings) for providing LTE coverage.
AT&T’s IoT team is also researching how in-flight drones can use the LTE network to send large amounts of data in real-time. This capability may benefit areas such as insurance, farming, facility and asset inspections, and even delivery service companies.
To infinity and beyond.
Edited by
Alicia Young
