AT&T And IBM Join Forces To Deliver New Innovations For The Internet of Things

ARMONK, N.Y. and DALLAS, Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* and IBM today announced a new global alliance agreement to develop solutions that help support the "Internet of Things."  The companies will combine their analytic platforms, cloud, and security technologies with privacy in mind to gain more insights on data collected from machines in a variety of industries.

The new AT&T and IBM alliance will initially focus on creating new solutions targeted for city governments and midsize utilities. These organizations intend to integrate and analyze vast quantities of data from assets such as mass transit vehicles, utility meters, and video cameras. As a result, cities may be able to better evaluate patterns and trends to improve urban planning and utilities can better manage their equipment to reduce costs. 

"This collaboration of two world-class companies will help deliver a more connected planet," said Chris Hill, Senior Vice President, AT&T Advanced Solutions. "We share a vision that the 'Internet of Things' will help companies in a variety of industries rely on their remote assets and connected devices to take their business to the next level."

Key capabilities for city planners in connected cities include:

• Better allocate and distribute resources based on information reported from incidents and service disruptions.
• Analyze the movement of people to improve traffic management, parking capacity, location and number of first unit responders. City officials can better prepare and react to potential bottlenecks and other issues in case of an emergency.
• Identify inefficient traffic patterns so that traffic can be re-routed; better allocate public safety resources in places where majority of people congregate.
• Monitor social media updates from citizens reporting bad weather or major traffic so the city can take best course of action.

"Smarter cities, cars, homes, machines and consumer devices will drive the growth of the Internet of Things along with the infrastructure that goes with them, unleashing a wave of new possibilities for data gathering, predictive analytics, and automation," said Rick Qualman, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Telecom Industry, IBM. "The new collaboration with AT&T will offer insights from crowdsourcing, mobile applications, sensors and analytics on the cloud, enabling all organizations to better listen, respond and predict."

AT&T brings its M2M globally accessible network, devices, and Global Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to help connect assets worldwide to a single global network. These technologies are managed through AT&T's M2M platforms to securely collect, organize, store and send the data to applications. IBM brings the Intelligent Operations Center, Maximo Asset Management, its advanced analytics capabilities, and IBM MessageSight MQTT Appliance, which complements the IBM MobileFirst family of solutions. IBM MobileFirst provides the management, security and analytics capabilities needed for organizations to capitalize on the increasing role of mobile devices in the Internet of Things. The two companies will work together to build solutions at the AT&T M2M Foundry in Plano, Texas and IBM Global Solution Centers around the world.

According to industry analyst firm IDC, the installed base for the Internet of Things will grow to approximately 212 billion devices by 2020, a number that includes 30 billion connected devices. IDC sees this growth driven largely by intelligent systems that will be installed and collecting data — across both consumer and enterprise applications.¹

In the latest iteration of Current Analysis' Global M2M Service provider rankings, principal analyst Kitty Weldon wrote that "AT&T is positioned as a global leader in providing M2M services and has demonstrated excellent traction for its initiatives with customers."²

IBM and AT&T are participants in the "SmartAmerica Challenge," led by Presidential Innovation Fellows Sokwoo Rhee and Geoff Muilligan.  The project aims to build several "Internet of Things" testbeds around the country by May 2014.  The network would aim to show what cyber-physical systems can do to improve safety, sustainability, efficiency, mobility, and overall quality of life. 

For more information on the new global alliance agreement, visit: http://networkingexchangeblog.att.com/enterprise-business/att-ibm-join-forces-develop-internet-things-solutions/.

For more information on IBM, visit: www.ibm.com.

¹IDC, "Worldwide Internet of Things 2013-2020 Forecast: Billions of Things, Trillions of Dollars," Doc #: 243661, October 2013

² Current Analysis, "AT&T - Global M2M Services and Strategies Vendor Profile," September 2013

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV service with the AT&T U-verse^® brand. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.

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