Fighting Fire with 5G – T-Mobile 5G Powers Pano AI Wildfire Detection System

Wildfires can have devastating consequences, threatening lives and property. And they’re a growing problem, burning nearly twice as much forested land today as they did just 20 years ago. 5G can help change that. T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced today that it has teamed up with Pano AI – a disaster preparedness technology solutions provider – and Portland General Electric to deploy 5G-connected cameras that enable AI-powered active wildfire detection near Portland, Oregon, to help identify the first sign of wildfires and ultimately stop them before they spread.

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Pano AI – a participant of the 5G Open Innovation Lab, which T-Mobile cofounded – deploys ultra-high-definition cameras and its proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform to constantly scan for and identify wildfires in the very early stages. The massive bandwidth and far reach of T-Mobile’s 5G network allows Pano AI to gather extremely high-quality video in at-risk areas and send vast amounts of data to Pano AI’s command center in real time, maximizing the effectiveness of its AI platform and spotting potentially dangerous situations quickly and reliably.

“This is why we’ve been focused on building a 5G network for all – not just in densely-populated areas but across the country, into rural communities and remote environments as well,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “Pano AI has developed an innovative solution that is poised to save lives and limit the devastation often caused by wildfires, and it’s both humbling and rewarding that T-Mobile’s 5G network is uniquely positioned to help bring it to life.”

“Firefighters are looking for ways to detect, confirm and pinpoint a fire within minutes, and modern technology makes that very possible,” said Sonia Kastner, CEO of Pano AI. “Wildfire detection is especially important in rural and remote areas, and thanks to the long range of T-Mobile’s 5G network, we can bring Pano AI’s solution to some of the most vulnerable locations across the country.”

Last year, nearly 60,000 wildfires burned more than seven million acres of land in the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And data shows that these fires are getting worse over time, due to more severe winds and drier conditions. As the first company to offer a fully-managed solution for active wildfire detection using AI, Pano AI has made it their mission to combat wildfires by providing intelligence that leverages the latest technology, including 5G. Pano AI works with utilities, governments, fire authorities, forestry companies, and private land owners to deploy their solution. Portland General Electric is the first to utilize Pano AI on T-Mobile’s 5G network.