Few terms are harder to define than "platform." Some define "platform" as the computer architecture and equipment using a particular operating system. So Windows or IoS or Android are platforms. Others might say a computing platform or digital platform is the environment in which a piece of software is executed.
Some might say cloud computing or virtual machines are platforms. Apple's App Store often is considered a platform.
A platform also can be a business model that creates value by facilitating exchanges between two or more interdependent groups, usually consumers and producers. So eBay, Amazon.com, Uber, Airbnb and any advertising marketplace are platforms.
Some telcos are optimistic about prospects for multi-access edge computing, including the opportunity to function as a platform for edge computing. The MobiledgeX initiative is a good example of that belief. MobiledgeX hopes to build an ecosystem of developers able to use common global interfaces, telco data centers and integrated 5G access.
The MEC is envisioned as being complementary to the current hyper-scale computing as a service platforms such as AWS Wavelength and Azure Edge Zone. The issue, as always, is how much value actually can be created by a telco-owned edge computing platform or even actual edge computing as a service.
Already, hyperscalers are moving to create their own edge computing as a service offers. In those instances, telcos become providers of real estate services and connectivity, but not the platform for developers or actual edge computing as a service.
It remains at this point an open question whether, and to what extent, a MEC platform can be created, and what value any potential platform can provide.
It never is easy for any participant in an ecosystem to emerge in additional roles, and has historically been challenging for telcos. Edge computing might not prove much different.
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