Verizon is integrating its on-site 5G Edge network with Microsoft's Azure edge services to enable ultra-low latency services for enterprises.
The companies said their collaboration brings a mobile edge computing platform designed to enable developers to build applications for mobile end-users and wireless edge devices with ultra-low latency.
“We have built a network that provides real-world, 5G-enabled solutions TODAY,” said Rima Qureshi, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Verizon. “By bringing together Verizon’s 5G network and on-site 5G Edge platform with Microsoft’s expertise in cloud services, we will enable the development of the next generation technologies everyone has been envisioning.”
“By leveraging Verizon’s 5G network integrated with Microsoft’s cloud and edge capabilities, developers and businesses can benefit from fast, secure and reliable connections to deliver seamless digital experiences from massive industrial IoT workloads to precision medicine,” said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president Azure for Operators at Microsoft.
Verizon said it is also exploring opportunities to co-innovate with Microsoft to deliver new value to industries ranging from manufacturing to healthcare.
AWS Wavelength Zones open in Boston & San Francisco
Amazon announced that the first two AWS Wavelength Zones are now open, one in Boston and the other in San Francisco. The new zones will allow developers who want to build apps to service Verizon Wireless customers in those metropolitan areas.
AWS Wavelength Zones, which were first announced at AWS re:Invent 2019, allow 5G operators to embed AWS hardware and software in their datacenters. The goal is to allow developers to build and deliver applications that can benefit from ultra-low latency.
Each WZ is associated with a specific AWS region known as the parent region. This is US East (N. Virginia) for the Wavelength Zone in Boston, and US West (N. California) for the AZ in San Francisco.
Verizon to offer 5G network edge computing with AWS Wavelength
The companies are currently piloting AWS Wavelength on Verizon’s edge compute platform, 5G Edge, in Chicago for a select group of customers, including video game publisher Bethesda Softworks and the National Football League (NFL). Additional deployments are planned in other locations across the U.S. in 2020.
Verizon 5G Edge provides mobile edge computing and an efficient high-volume connection between users, devices, and applications. AWS Wavelength lets customers deploy the parts of an application that require ultra-low latency to the edge of the network and then seamlessly connect back to the full range of cloud services running in AWS.
AWS also listed Vodafone Business, KDDI, and SK Telecom as partners.