Verizon Business deploys 5G Ultra Wideband indoors at General Motors and Honeywell

NEW YORK - Verizon Business announced today that General Motors and Honeywell will be among the first enterprise customers to install Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service inside their corporate offices to drive vital digital transformation initiatives. Built with the bandwidth and speeds to support a variety of business and industrial applications, each company will work with Verizon to develop customized use cases that speak to their needs and roadmaps. Initial deployments are happening at the new Honeywell headquarters building in Charlotte, N.C., and General Motors Factory Zero at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center.

“If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that the acceleration to digital will only get faster and our customers must seize this moment to scale quickly, and General Motors and Honeywell are two industry-leading companies that are first movers in this area,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business.“We’ve opened the door to the 5G era and have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely reimagine the future of enterprise. Foundational to this is the power of Verizon’s 5G network coupled with our expanding portfolio of enterprise cloud applications and devices, including the powerful, new iPhone 12 lineup.”

General Motors (GM) and Verizon Business partnered to install 5G Ultra Wideband at GM’s recently announced Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, known as Factory ZERO, an all-electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant. The name Factory ZERO reflects the significance of this facility in advancing GM’s vision for a zero-crashes, zero-emissions and zero-congestion future. Factory ZERO will be the launchpad for GM’s multi-brand EV strategy. The facility will utilize Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network and other advanced technology.

The greatly expanded capacity of 5G will speed the deployment of future innovations in advanced automotive manufacturing. In addition, 5G supports wider use of devices like the new iPhones 12 lineup used to run apps supporting quality, safety and efficiency in the manufacturing environment.

“Factory ZERO is GM’s flagship assembly plant in our journey to an all-electric future,” said Randy Mott, GM Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. “This is another example of cutting-edge technology improving quality and speed as GM accelerates its rollout of EVs.”

Honeywell is installing Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband inside their new corporate headquarters in Charlotte. The service will serve their Innovation Center and Executive Leadership floor, where they will showcase different Honeywell products and solutions that benefit from the high bandwidth and low latency provided by Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband.

“I am super excited to deploy 5G in our state-of the art corporate headquarters where we will provide an unparalleled showcase of Honeywell products that help make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable,” said Sheila Jordan, Chief Digital Technology Officer at Honeywell.

Indoor 5G Ultra Wideband installations within enterprise customer facilities are a critical step in the process to deliver a commercial private 5G solution. Private 5G could lead to advancements in business operations, product manufacturing and customer experiences across a variety of industries. With Verizon’s mmWave bandwidth and reliability, private 5G should eventually offer the scalability to manage massive numbers of devices along with advanced capabilities such as Edge AI, computer vision and other emerging technologies.

5G Fleet Swap

Today, Apple and Verizon are also excited to introduce Verizon 5G Fleet Swap, a first-of-its-kind program that allows customers to trade in their entire fleet of smartphones, from Verizon or any carrier, and upgrade to any model in the iPhone 12 lineup for zero upfront cost, with zero to low cost per month.

“The iPhone 12 lineup is the best for business, with an all-new design, advanced 5G experience, industry-leading security and A14 Bionic, the fastest chip ever in a smartphone,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Markets, Apps and Services. “Paired with Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband going indoors and 5G Fleet Swap, an all-new device offer for enterprise, it’s now easier than ever for businesses to build transformational mobile apps that take advantage of the powerful iPhone 12 lineup and 5G.”

The iPhone 12 lineup is the biggest leap forward for iPhone, ever. Featuring a beautiful, all-new design, edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays, the biggest jump in durability in the history of iPhone with Ceramic Shield, unparalleled new camera systems, and Apple-designed A14 Bionic chip, iPhone 12 models also integrate the most 5G bands on any smartphone for the broadest 5G coverage worldwide.

Erwin added: “No matter where you are on your digital transformation journey, the ability to put the power of 5G Ultra Wideband in all of your employees’ hands right now with a powerful iPhone 12 model, the best smartphone for business, is not just an investment for growth, it’s what will set a business’s future trajectory as technology continues to advance.”

Business customers using the new iPhone 12 lineup on Verizon’s 5G network will have the potential to unlock new experiences with apps that will take advantage of the unprecedented speed, massive capacity and ultra-low lag time Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband offers.