The impending commercialisation of ‘telco edge’ constitutes a ‘white space’ opportunity that will usher in significant growth for both the supply and demand side in telecoms, finds global tech market advisory firm ABI Research.
There are a handful of new emerging applications including augmented and Virtual Reality, and AI that require distributed processing capabilities that only edge computing can offer.
Multiple strands, however, need to be addressed before edge computing becomes mainstream.
There are various layers of edge deployment types, but not a one-size-fits-all commercial model.
This not only renders the management of edge products a challenge but also presents a commercial opportunity for edge deployments and 5G rollouts.
Don Alusha, Senior Analyst at ABI Research, said: “On one hand, the increasingly growing market for telco edge solutions and services is no doubt tomorrow’s opportunity, but it is one that is currently complex in terms of technologies and competing stakeholders.
"MSPs, on the other hand, are in limbo. They understand the edge holds great potential but they don’t yet know how to make money out of it. They need a 'hero' edge application to kick start this market.”