EuroWire March 2016

Transatlantic cable

establish a “physical presence” in Cuba and hire Cubans to work in their o ces. Verizon Wireless (Basking Ridge, New Jersey) acted immediately, becoming the rst US wireless company to o er roaming in Cuba. • Verizon’s “Pay-As-You-Go International Travel” option, costing $2.99 per minute for calls and $2.05 per megabyte for data, is scarcely a bargain by international standards, but it represents a signi cant advance for Cuba. Other US wireless operators will likely follow suit, installing the infrastructure and equipment needed to commence services to a grievously underserved population of about 11 million. And the new Cuban prospects have not escaped notice outside of the telecom industry. Medical device maker Medtronic (Elizabeth, New Jersey) told Roger Yu of USA Today that the FCC order of 15 th January will “promote connectivity for medical devices and services, such as remote monitoring of medical devices and exchange of medical information between [the US and Cuba].” The Swedish equipment maker Ericsson and the USA telecom AT&T were recruited by the city of Atlanta, Georgia, to help bring down the cost of water quality testing. As reported by Joey Jackson of RCR Wireless News , eld trials are underway to allow the organisation overseeing the Chattahoochee River Basin, the main drinking water source in Atlanta, to monitor water quality from a remote location. The technology uses sensors designed by Ericsson and connectivity provided by AT&T to measure the conductivity, turbidity, temperature and thermometry of the water supply. The partnership approach will invest the city with the advanced testing and monitoring capability of a federal agency at a fraction of the cost of commercially available industrial devices – typically around $10,000 each. (“Ericsson, AT&T Team Up on ConnectedWater Solution,” 7 th January) Charles Dasher, of Ericsson, said that the team in Atlanta has brought that price-tag down to under $300 with connectivity by way of LTE Category 1 power-saving mode. This makes it economical to take more frequent samples over the course of a day. But more importantly, noted Mr Dasher, “It increases battery life by years and years and years.” Connectivity in the service of water testing technology promises savings and other bene ts for the city of Atlanta

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▲ Ericsson and USA telecom giant AT&T were recruited by the city of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to bring down the cost of water quality testing For his part, Mike Zeto of AT&T emphasised the civic component of the joint enterprise. He told RCR Wireless News , “Connectivity is driving cities to rethink how they use technology to bene t their residents.” This is not the last time that Ericsson and AT&T will join forces on Internet of Things solutions. Both companies have announced their participation in a “smart city alliance” that includes industry heavyweights Cisco, Deloitte, Ericsson, GE, IBM, Intel and Qualcomm. Dorothy Fabian USA Editor

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March 2016