Microsoft works with Rogers, Vodafone on private LTE/5G

Microsoft this week indicated that it’s working on private LTE with Rogers in Canada, and it has plans to work with other carriers on private LTE and private 5G networks. Microsoft mentioned its work on private LTE, briefly, as part of a bigger announcement about the preview of its Azure Edge Zones. Microsoft is working with AT&T to bring ultra-low-latency edge compute to joint customers with its Azure Edge Zones. These are local extensions of the Microsoft Azure cloud. But in addition, Microsoft also announced the preview of Azure Private Edge Zones. The company says these are “a private 5G/LTE network combined with Azure Stack Edge on-premises.” As a start, Microsoft is working with the Canadian operator Rogers and its enterprise client Attabotics to use private LTE with Azure Private Edge Zones. Attabotics makes robots for fulfillment and distribution centers. “In collaboration with Microsoft, Rogers is delivering new and innovative solutions with our Private LTE capabilities combined with Azure Edge Zones,” said Dean Prevost, president of Rogers for Business, in a statement. “Working with Attabotics, we’re enabling Canadian businesses to transform the traditional supply model with a retail e-fulfillment solution.”