AT&T and Current, powered by GE, Strike Historic Deal to Redefine Smart Cities for the Digital Age

• AT&T named exclusive reseller of Current’s intelligent sensor nodes in the U.S. and Mexico
• Utilizing the AT&T Smart Cities framework, Current brings end-to-end software and hardware solutions to connect cities to the Industrial Internet
• Agreement  builds on AT&T’s long-standing relationships with municipalities, highly secure network connectivity and innovative IoT platforms 
• ·AT&T and Current are already working with San Diego and Atlanta to transform existing street lighting into a connected digital infrastructure

Two companies with extensive history in infrastructure and communications technology are teaming up to help accelerate the digital era of urban development. AT&T* (NYSE:T) and Current, powered by GE (NYSE:GE), have announced an exclusive agreement to connect cities across the United States and Mexico to the Internet of Things (IoT). Together, the companies will unlock a realm of possibilities to improve the way cities operate, communicate and meet the needs of citizens.

Since launching its Smart Cities organization in 2015, AT&T has been using its resources and IoT expertise to create impactful solutions for cities.  With its smart cities framework as the foundation, for the past year, AT&T has been helping cities develop and implement a holistic smart cities strategy to address their current and future needs. The agreement with Current significantly extends AT&T’s smart city services, plus opens new revenue opportunities for the company. By introducing GE’s Predix-powered IoT platform, AT&T can use outdoor LED lighting in a city to create a digital infrastructure that helps address issues like traffic flow and parking optimization, gunshot detection on city streets, air quality monitoring and weather emergency alerts.

“Intelligent lighting plays a huge role in a smart city,” said Chris Penrose, president, Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T. “Our collaboration with Current will enable us to use a city’s existing lighting infrastructure to more securely connect sensor-enabled networks. This will put them on the path to becoming a smarter, more sustainable city.”

The two companies have collaborated before. Current, GE’s digital industrial startup business, recently announced a deal with the City of San Diego to upgrade thousands of the city’s outdoor light fixtures to sensor-enabled LED technology, making it the world’s largest smart city IoT platform. AT&T will act as the data carrier and provide highly secure connectivity for the San Diego deployment, which is expected to save the city approximately $2.4 million in annual energy costs. In addition, the deal builds on AT&T’s membership in GE’s Digital Alliance program, where it serves as a connectivity-as-a-service collaborator for GE’s Predix platform.

“We are thrilled to expand Current’s relationship with AT&T to help cities redefine the civic engagement model—our digital network is based on an open platform, which allows entrepreneurs, incubators and students to get involved in the future development smart city applications,”  said John Gordon, Chief Digital Officer of Current, powered by GE. “AT&T has a long history of working commercially with municipalities, and our technology will be a perfect fit toward helping more cities unleash the limitless potential of the Industrial Internet.”

For more than 100 years, AT&T has formed strong relationships with cities across the United States. The company’s Smart Cities initiative is bringing connectivity to spotlight cities across the nation—helping these cities become cleaner, safer and more efficient. And secure AT&T network connectivity and IoT platforms like AT&T M2X and AT&T Flow Designer continue to foster IoT innovation around the globe.

“Innovation is at the core of who we are—and what we do,” said Mike Zeto, general manager, AT&T Smart Cities. “AT&T and GE are the companies that modernized the telephone and light bulb. Together, we will usher in a new digital frontier, giving cities and citizens alike the benefits of a connected city.”

Current, which combines energy technology like LED and solar with sensors and software, aims to help customers like cities, commercial buildings and industrial facilities slash energy costs and create intelligent environments. Its platform enables a wide variety of developers to create new applications that could improve safety, productivity, energy efficiency and other issues that impact municipal, commercial and industrial customers.

“Our goal is to bring the combined power of GE and AT&T to municipalities in a way that pulls from the best of both worlds,” Current’s Gordon said. “We are two companies with more than a century of success in solving big problems, and we believe our combined innovation can help build a better world.”

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.