In an era characterized by employees working from coffee shops and other random and often insecure locations, moves by T-Mobile and Verizon suggest that 5G laptops have fully arrived as linchpin tools for business customers.
T-Mobile’s foray, announced this week, is Partner Plus. It is a channel subsidy program designed to reduce the initial cost of 5G laptops and enterprise-grade 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) equipment.
The offer includes a subsidy credit of as much as $400 and subsequent business savings per laptop for many network-certified 5G laptop brands. It includes a SIM-based secure access service edge (SASE) platform featuring International Mobile Subscriber Identity and International Mobile Equipment Identity for clientless authentication.
Partner Plus offers other savings not directly related to the laptops. These features and savings focus on equipment from Cradlepoint, which is part of Ericsson. Global distributors Ingram Micro and TD SYNNEX also are participating in the program.
Verizon’s 5G laptop focus is centered on security and the inherent dangers of employees using public Wi-Fi.
Earlier this week, Vice President of Devices and Device Services Vijay Paulrajan told Telecompetitor that connected laptops with secure 4G and 5G modems can meet the challenge brought by employees connecting in this manner. He said that 40% of companies say they have encountered issues related to public Wi-Fi connectivity.
Paulrajan said that hybrid will continue grow as AI workloads get bigger and an increasing amount of sensitive company data migrates to the cloud.
Verizon’s latest promotion is device-agnostic, allowing for any laptop that has built-in mobile technology.
Secure 5G modems not only reduce losses due to carelessness. It also enables work processes that are more efficient because there is no need to cut insecure devices out of the loop. Paulrajan cited visiting nurses who now can file reports directly via the mobile network instead of having to return to their clinics. The Verizon Business Unlimited Start Laptop Plan offers many choices. The offer includes 90 days of free service.
