By James Blackman

Industry 4.0 – NTT is targeting enterprises in the automotive, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail sectors.

NTT has launched a private cellular as-a-service platform for enterprises to deploy private LTE and 5G networks anywhere in the world. The Japan-based firm described the offer as an “end-to-end stack of services that goes beyond the network” to include infrastructure and device management, industrial application enablement, and back-office integration.

A statement said the private 5G (branded ‘P5G’) platform is pre-integrated “with leading network and software partners”. Detail was scant, and Enterprise IoT Insights has followed up, but logic says it works as a service portal for enterprises to design, deploy, and manage private networks, tapping into various prescribed suppliers for different phases, and navigating different design requirements, spectrum arrangements, and regulatory environments.

The company said it is providing its own patent-pending MicroSlicing technology, as well, to enable enterprises to slice and dice networks, even within global private-network estates, according to use case requirements. It called it the “first globally available private 5G network-as-a-service platform”, also covering aspects of security, device and edge management, application development, big data analytics, and back-office integration

The platform will “eliminate friction and increase ROI” for multinational enterprises grappling with the complexities of private cellular, it said. NTT is targeting enterprises in the automotive, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail sectors. The company has appointed former Accenture and Sprint executive Shahid Ahmed as executive vice president of new ventures and innovation to lead the P5G portfolio. Ahmed is an advisor to the FCC in the US.

A statement said: “NTT P5G leverages design thinking principles to integrate security, control and privacy by design, providing performance and cost benefits with a clear ROI. Running on a cloud-native architecture, the platform can be delivered via cloud, on-premises, or at the edge. The platform is pre-integrated with leading network and software partners, allowing enterprises to secure, scale and segment their network flexibly.”

Ahmed said: “Global enterprises are looking for a single private 5G solution to deploy across multiple countries. They need one truly private network, one point of accountability, one management platform, and one solution partner that eliminates all the major friction points across the entire global footprint of the enterprise. Our P5G offering supports many of the CXO requirements today, and we will continue to invest in P5G as enterprise adoption evolves.”

Chief digital and strategy officer at NTT Data Services in North America, Eric Clark said: “5G will enable enterprises to reinvent business operations. With faster speeds and more data, 5G will facilitate advances in artificial intelligence, automation, and IoT. How a company collects, stores, and uses that data in real-time will be critical to success, and NTT is well positioned to guide our clients on this journey.”

In a supplied quote, research vice president at IDC, Ghassan Abdo remarked: “NTT has a strong track record of focusing on breadth of service, and NTT P5G capabilities extend far beyond basic connectivity to offer a comprehensive suite of services geared toward important business outcomes.”