AWS Makes Bid for the Edge

It never has been clear how the edge computing market--particularly the "edge computing as a service" portion of that market, would develop. Plausible suppliers include cell tower companies, mobile operators, the hyperscale data center providers, data center providers or new specialists in the market.

But AWS is making big moves.

Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) has announced AWS Wavelength,  which provides developers the ability to build applications that serve end-users with single-digit millisecond latencies over a 5G network. 

Wavelength embeds AWS compute and storage services at the edge of telecommunications providers’ 5G networks, enabling developers to serve use-cases that require ultra-low latency like machine learning inference at the edge, autonomous industrial equipment, smart cars and cities, Internet of Things (IoT), and Augmented and Virtual Reality. 

AWS customers can now use the same familiar AWS APIs, tools, and functionality they use today, to deliver-low latency applications at the edge of the 5G network, around the world, AWS says. 

AWS is partnering with Verizon, Vodafone, SK Telecom, and KDDI) to launch AWS Wavelength across Europe, South Korea, and Japan in 2020, with more global partners “coming soon,” AWS says. 

It was probably inevitable that Verizon is partnering with Amazon Web Services for edge computing after AT&T and Microsoft announced their partnership for 5G-enabled edge computing.

Though each telecom giant is pursuing edge computing, the choice of a different strategic partner is a pattern with a long history, as doing so creates some amount of differentiation in the offers each can create. 

Verizon, says Amazon,  is the first technology company in the world to offer 5G network edge computing, and will use AWS’s new service, AWS Wavelength, to provide developers the ability to deploy applications that require ultra-low latency to mobile devices using 5G. 

The companies say they 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. 

AWS and Verizon say the partnership brings “processing power and storage physically closer to 5G mobile users and wireless devices, and enable developers to build applications that can deliver enhanced user experiences like near real-time analytics for instant decision-making, immersive game streaming, and automated robotic systems in manufacturing facilities.”

AT&T calls its platform “Network Edge Compute,” which weaves Microsoft Azure cloud services into AT&T network edge locations closer to customers. That means AT&T customers will be able to use Azure services at the edge.