Vodafone has extended its multi-access edge computing (MEC) service to service providers and enterprises in Spain.
The MEC service is based on Amazon Web Services’ AWS Wavelength technology. MEC is a key component in unlocking the full potential of 5G. The technology moves cloud-based IT services to the edge of the network, removing latency that would result from multiple hops between aggregation sites and across the internet.
In optimum conditions, latency could be as low as single-digit milliseconds between the mobile base station and MEC infrastructure, says Vodafone. Every millisecond is crucial in the provision of seamless, time-sensitive services, such as connected industrial robots, biometric “passwordless” security, autonomous cars, and other Internet of Things applications.
Spain is the latest Vodafone market to embed AWS Wavelength at the edge of its 4G and 5G networks, and joins both Germany and the UK, which initially started to roll out distributed MEC services in early 2021.
Vodafone and AWS have made the pilot Spanish AWS Wavelength Zone available to customers across the province of Andalusia, southern Spain, including the cities of Malaga, Granada, Córdoba, Jaén, Almería and areas of Seville.
The service is already available in London, Manchester, Berlin, Munich and Dortmund.
Jennifer Didoni, head of cloud, edge and mobile private networks at Vodafone Business, said: “5G and edge computing will help our customers transform their industries. Working with AWS, we can deliver applications and IT tools to customers in milliseconds, faster than the human eye or ear can even perceive.
“By bringing these services closer to the customer across Germany, Spain, and the UK, they can access apps on tap in more places, in high definition, at machine speed, and with performance that wasn’t possible before.”
One of the first applications to be tested using distributed MEC in Spain is improved road safety based on Vodafone’s Safer Transport for Europe Platform (STEP). Connecting drivers directly with transport authorities, STEP enables safety information, hazard warnings and traffic updates to be shared in real time, no matter which device or in-vehicle system being used.
In addition, Vodafone Spain will test MEC with “extended reality”, to provide companies across agriculture, logistics, industry, entertainment, or social health with a 3D digital twin of critical applications. This will allow them to make “near-instant” changes without the need for a physical site visit.
More than 30 companies are said to have have completed a pilot with Vodafone’s Edge Innovation programme in the UK and Germany.
