AT&T and GE join up on wireless global controls for industrial machines

AT&T and GE have teamed up to connect what could be millions of future GE industrial lights, engines and other hardware with AT&T's global wireless network for remote tracking, monitoring and even operation of the machines.

GE will embed AT&T global wireless SIMs (Subscriber Identity Modules) in industrial products that will communicate over AT&T's cloud-based network. Using GE software called Predix, the two companies will collaborate to build software to maintain and remotely control industrial machines. The industrial machine-to-machine (M2M) agreement could have enormous implications. "This is a hugely significant win for AT&T," said Morgan Mullooly, an analyst at Analysys Mason. "We expect a tremendous number of M2M connections to be activated in the next two to three years, as millions of industrial components roll off GE productions lines fitted with embedded M2M modules and ... dispersed around the globe." GE calls such M2M connections the Industrial Internet which GE estimates will grow by 2025 to affect half of the global economy. In 2025, the global economy will be valued at an estimated $164 trillion.