Verizon Wireless AI platform paves way for 5G build-out

There may be no more widely anticipated technology than the delivery of 5G wireless networking to superpower enterprises and consumers. The breakthrough throughput and speed of 5G is expected to revolutionize mobile and edge computing and open the door to the next generation of analytics, automation, AI, and internet of things (IoT) applications, IT industry observers assert. One of the leading telecommunications providers, Verizon Wireless, is working to ensure the blueprint of its next-generation 5G wireless network translates to the physical world. To make that happen, the company designed a homegrown 5G Network Planning Platform (NPP) under the management of former CIO Lynn Cox and project lead Ashis Sarkar. The project has earned Verizon Wireless a CIO 100 Award for IT innovation and leadership. “We are in the midst of deploying one of our largest investments — our 5G network — and this platform is an integral part of it,” says Sumit Singh, vice president and platform project leader, who dubs NPP a network factory tool. “This is how we decide how to optimize and how best to deploy the network, which starts with where we should be deploying it.”