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March 2016 53
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 15th 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].”
Connectivity in the service of water
testing technology promises savings
and other bene ts for the city of Atlanta
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,” 7th 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.”
▲ 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
bigstockphoto.com–Photographer:SeanPavone