Sprint and Ericsson have announced a global relationship to build a distributed and virtualized core network dedicated specifically to the Internet of Things (IoT). The new environment is designed to create an optimal flow of device data, enabling immediate, actionable intelligence at the network edge for end users and enterprises.

“We are combining our IoT strategy with Ericsson’s expertise to build a platform primed for the most demanding applications like artificial intelligence, edge computing, robotics, autonomous vehicles and more with ultra-low-latency, the highest availability and an unmatched level of security at the chip level,” said Ivo Rook, senior vice president of IoT for Sprint. “This is a network built for software and it’s ready for 5G. Our IoT platform is for those companies, large and small, that are creating the immediate economy.”

The core network will be built for low latency and high availability. It will be distributed and virtualized, reducing the distance between the device generating the data and the IoT application processing it. The IoT OS will offer connectivity and device management, including individual configuration and updates of firmware and software for each device, and full subscription lifecycle management and monitoring of billing and usage data. It will also offer service assurance for all IoT elements and enterprise locations, including network operations centre monitoring, service resource fulfilment, cloud orchestration management and application management.