(Alliance News) - US telecommunications firm Verizon Communications Inc said Tuesday it has signed a deal with Amazon.com Inc's AWS Wavelength to improve its 5G network.
London-listed Vodafone Group PLC also said on Wednesday that it is collaborating with Amazon Web Services to make AWS Wavelength available in Europe.
Amazon.com Inc's AWS Wavelength provides developers the ability to build mobile applications that serve users with single-digit millisecond latencies over the 5G network.
Verizon said the service will allow it to become the first to offer 5G edge computing, allowing users to develop applications that require ultra-low latency to mobile devices using 5G.
Verizon is currently piloting AWS Wavelength on Verizon's edge compute platform, 5G Edge, in Chicago, including video game publisher Bethesda Softworks and the National Football League.
Additional deployments are planned in other locations across the US in 2020, Verizon said.
"By utilizing AWS Wavelength and Verizon 5G Edge, developers will be able to deliver a wide range of transformative, latency-sensitive use cases like machine learning inference at the edge, autonomous industrial equipment, smart cars and cities, Internet of Things, and augmented and virtual reality," Verizon explained.
Verizon 5G Edge allows mobile edge computing - a high-volume connection between users, devices and applications. AWS Wavelength lets customers deploy the parts of the application the require ultra-low latency to the edge of the network, then connect back to AWS.
"Mobile edge compute technology further reduces latency. Currently, application data has to travel from the device, to the mobile network, to networking devices at the mobile edge, and then to the Internet to get to the application servers in remote locations, which can result in longer latency," Verizon said.
The US firm is hoping the 5G cloud edge computing can improve this.
Verizon Chair & Chief Executive Hans Vestberg said: "Bringing together the full capabilities of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband and AWS, the world's leading cloud with the broadest and deepest services portfolio, we unlock the full potential of our 5G services for customers to create applications and solutions with the fastest speeds, improved security, and ultra-low latency."
Vodafone separately said it plans to roll out AWS Wavelength in "strategic" locations within its 5G network.
Vodafone Business CEO Vinod Kumar said: "With Europe's largest 5G network across 58 cities and as a global leader in internet of things with over 90 million connections, Vodafone is pleased to be the first telco to introduce AWS Wavelength in Europe."
AWS Wavelength will be available first in the UK and Germany on the Vodafone 5G network, expanding to other Vodafone markets across Europe, the company explained.
Shares in Verizon closed 0.3% higher in New York on Tuesday at USD60.14. In pre-market trade, the shares added a further 0.1% to USD60.20. Vodafone shares were trading 1.2% lower in London on Wednesday morning at 144.12 pence each.
Elsewhere, US IT services provider Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp said Tuesday it has extended its partnership with AWS, by now offering customers AWS Outpost.
Cognizant said it is able to work with clients to "re-architect complex enterprise IT workloads to modernize and support their on-premises and cloud-based infrastructures".
Cognizant Vice President of AWS Global Business Raja Renganathan said: "Cognizant is excited to extend our long-standing relationship with AWS to offer AWS Outposts to our clients. This service line will help clients to experience AWS native features on-premises, enabling them to build and run modern and secure digital platforms."
Cognizant closed down 1.2% in New York on Tuesday at USD62.75. The shares were flat in pre-market trade.
Amazon ended 0.7% lower at USD1,769.96. The shares gained 0.7% in pre-market trade to USD1,781.40.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com and Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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