UScellular installs private 5G at KPMG’s customer centre in Chicago

The business arm of US wireless carrier UScellular has installed a private 5G network at KPMG’s customer co-creation centre at its headquarters in Chicago. The venue, dubbed the Ignition Center, measures 30,000 square feet and houses KPMG’s technology solutions teams. The new 5G network “creates an innovative digital lab experience” for KPMG’s clients to test out new Industry 4.0 solutions, said the pair.

KPMG is looking to develop IoT-based digital-change solutions for manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. A statement said: “This includes connecting manufacturing facilities with sensors, machine learning, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and autonomous robotics.” KPMG talked up the importance of an “integrated experience between public and private cellular networks”. 

Kim Kerr, senior vice president of enterprise sales and operations at UScellular, said: “KPMG’s Ignition Center is our neighbour here in Chicago and offers a unique and advanced environment for technology, so working together makes perfect sense. Delivering private 5G… further establishes KPMG’s portfolio of expansive industry expertise and we are thrilled to support their continuous innovation strategy to uncover new use cases.”

Greg Corlis, principal in KPMG’s emerging technology group, said: “The future of Industry 4.0 and supply chain management will increasingly involve digital technologies and solutions designed to transform the manufacturing industry by providing an integrated experience between public and private cellular networks. Upgrading to private 5G… will help us and our manufacturing clients as they experiment with emerging technologies.”