Verizon, AWS expand edge computing to more metro areas

Verizon has announced that it is now offering, with AWS, 5G mobile edge computing (MEC) in more US metro areas, with the addition of Nashville, Tennessee and Tampa, Florida.

Through a partnership that began in August 2020, the companies can now provide mobile edge computing via AWS Wavelength Zones in 19 locations in the US, which means 75% of the US population is now within 150 miles of a Wavelength Zone.

The Verizon and AWS edge computing collaboration began with the launch of Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength. AWS Wavelength extends AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s public mobile network and provides access to cloud services running in an AWS region, thereby minimising the latency and network hops required to connect from a 5G device to an application hosted on AWS.

In August 2020, the companies announced the general availability of 5G mobile edge computing via Wavelength Zones in 10 cities across the US.

Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength is currently available in 19 locations: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York City, Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Tampa and Washington DC.

The relationship evolved to see the companies create technology fully integrating Verizon’s private 5G networks and private 5G Edge platform with AWS Outposts, a fully managed service that is said to offer the same AWS infrastructure, services, application programming interfaces (APIs) and tools to virtually any datacentre, colocation space or on-premise facility for a consistent hybrid experience.

The benefits for users of being in closer proximity to the applications they use means faster response times by shortening the round trip that data needs to travel, significantly reducing lag time, or latency, for getting data to a device from the cloud. For developers and businesses, Verizon said that by using 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength allows them to build and deploy a variety of latency-sensitive applications for use cases such as immersive virtual reality (VR) gaming, video distribution and connected and autonomous vehicles.

“With the ongoing expansion of our mobile edge compute infrastructure, we’re enabling developers to build transformational applications that enhance consumers’ experiences by moving the data and processing done by applications and services to the edge of Verizon’s wireless network and closer to the end-user’s device,” said Verizon Business CEO Tami Erwin. “By offering both public and private mobile edge compute, we are giving businesses ultimate optionality. This can transform the way companies can leverage predictive analytics, allowing them to improve operational efficiency, mitigate risk and increase revenue.”

George Elissaios, director and general manager of AWS EC2 core product management at AWS, added: “With the rapid expansion of AWS Wavelength Zones across the US, even more developers can innovate faster and deploy powerful cloud-based applications to the edge – offering ultra-low latency, high bandwidth, and high performance for these applications. We are excited to collaborate with Verizon to bring AWS services to the edge of the Verizon 5G network across the US to help our customers transform consumer experiences.”