BT has said it is to make a “multi-million-pound investment” in mobile edge computing (MEC), rooted in its LTE (4G) and 5G network infrastructure. Its mission is to bring enterprise services and applications closer to customers. It is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) on the project, which will see the cloud firm’s compute and storage services embedded in its network infrastructure,enable enterprise data to be exchanged more quickly and expansively with MEC-cloud resources.

The UK telecoms operator, which owns the EE mobile network in the UK, will deploy the AWS MEC product, called Wavelength, in its network. The facility is intended to support higher-fidelity cellular services for private enterprise and public sector customers across the UK, including for the SME market; BT cited “use cases like policing, crowd management, healthcare and security”. It also noted the service is for customers “looking to benefit from high-bandwidth IoT use cases in the field”.

BT listed autonomous vehicles, police cameras, media production, industrial robots, and community healthcare as further use cases. It said the investment is a “long-term” one. It is part of ongoing work with AWS, which has just seen a new AWS Wavelength Zone switched on in Manchester with a service radius of 100 kilometres – goingLiverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Blackpool. BT’s wholesale unit worked with AWS on initial trials in Manchester. 

A statement said: “BT’s ambition is to roll out AWS Wavelength to business customers across the UK more broadly in the coming years… Hosting services directly at the edge of EE’s UK network reduces lag, as application traffic can reach application servers running in the AWS Wavelength Zone without leaving BT’s network. This opens up mobile edge computing infrastructure for businesses to develop, deploy, and scale mobile IoT applications over BT’s existing 5G network securely.

Alex Tempest, managing director at BT Wholesale said: “Launching the AWS Wavelength service for our business and wholesale customers is a hugely important step on our journey… It is set to unlock use cases like IoT cameras to help first responders keep communities safe: a real-life example of using tech to connect for good. By building cloud edge servicesour… network, we can accelerate innovation across industries, and bring fast, secure data processing closer to where our customers need it most.”