Podcast: How Service Providers Can Capture the Edge Opportunity

Not long ago, there were IT companies and there were telcos. And there was little to no overlap. 

Today, these two coexist within a massive gray area, particularly as it relates to bringing services to end customers via the edge of the network, where IT-style equipment is being fit into edge locations owned by the network operators.

Mobile edge computing (MEC) is widely considered to be a key component of service providers' strategy to monetize costly 5G infrastructure. And while MEC represents a $17 billion market opportunity for operators over the next three years alone, few enterprise decision makers view service providers as an authority in the space.

Complicating matters further, the competitive landscape is chock-full of webscale giants targeting the exact set of enterprise customers service providers desperately need if they're to remain viable in the 5G economy.

Service providers are well positioned to win this game thanks a massive portfolio of cell sites that exist much closer to end users than most cloud providers' data centers. But they must effectively use their networks to be able to tap into the value being created at the edge.

WWT recently partnered with Telecoms.com to record a three-part podcast series exploring MEC, the service provider's role in delivering edge solutions and where the opportunity lies.

Part I: What is the edge opportunity? Where will edge deliver?

Part I features WWT's EMA Chief Technologist for Service Providers Daniel Valle and Eric van Vliet, EMEA GTM Manager for Telco/5G at Dell Technologies. The two talk about why service providers' infrastructure and experience make them well positioned to capitalize on the edge ecosystem, but also how it will be an uphill battle given the complexity of the edge space.

Part II: Why are partnerships key? What role will the telcos play?

Part II  features Valle with GSMA's Head of Future Networks Henry Calvert. The pair discusses the value that partnerships will deliver in realizing value in the edge as service providers look to underpin their capabilities as an edge application enabler — not just a provider of connectivity.

Part III: How can operators overcome edge barriers?  

Part III features Valle and Larry Horner, senior solution architect with Intel. Valle and Horner will discuss the role of the systems integrator in effectively deploying edge solutions and how enterprises can overcome common challenges to edge implementations.