Telstra taps Ericsson to build 5G edge cloud for enterprises

Australia's Telstra has picked Ericsson to help build its enterprise edge cloud solution that will go market in the coming months.

 The enterprise edge cloud solution, which will also feature an extension into hybrid cloud, will drive innovation across enterprise use cases such as agriculture, industrial IoT, smart cities, and enterprise branch services.

It will include orchestration, network exposure and service assurance for each of the enterprise verticals Telstra is targeting. Telstra and Ericsson are also building consumption-based interfaces between cloud providers and Telstra's network for quicker on ramps to the cloud.

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The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated businesses' digital transformations, which includes moving more workloads and applications into the cloud. Similar to AT&T, Verizon and Telefonica's efforts, Telstra is creating a portfolio of services that can tap into 5G at the enterprise cloud edge.

Building a repeatable design framework, along with orchestration for the edge computing capabilities, will drive scalability, security, availability, low latency and bandwidth across industry verticals.

Monday's news built on a successful 5G edge compute trial last year between Ericsson and Telstra for a financial institution.

“We’re pleased to be working with Ericsson to develop this enterprise edge cloud solution," said Nikos Katinakis, Telstra Group executive networks and IT, in a statement. "This is a natural progression from last year’s trial around 5G edge computing and will serve as a framework for us to bring the benefits of 5G to the hands of Australians.

"It also paves the way for future use cases into other industries, such as agriculture and manufacturing. As the 5G rollout continues across Australia, harnessing edge computing will enable us to tap into the potential of 5G technology, ensuring that Australia and our customers remain at the cutting edge of mobile technology.”