Singapore, London, Digital Transformation World Series (DTWS) : Bridge Alliance, the leading mobile alliance covering 34 markets and TM Forum, the industry association driving digital transformation through collaboration, have entered into a strategic partnership that will simplify the adoption of edge computing for global telecom companies, enabling them to accelerate digital transformation efforts and leverage new business opportunities in emerging technologies.

The partnership will advance Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) as a growth engine for the telecom industry. MEC supports ultra-low latency applications by processing data closer to the user instead of sending it to the cloud, enabling new business models and the growth of use cases such as cloud gaming, drones, robots, autonomous vehicles and augmented and virtual reality applications.

Through the partnership, Bridge Alliance and its member telecom operators will be able to leverage TM Forum’s Open APIs to deliver open, transparent and accessible MECs at scale. This will pave the way for interoperability and standardisation of MEC globally. The operators could advance their MEC development and boost capabilities in areas such as location-based services and optimise content storage and distribution closer to their customers for faster response times. They will be better positioned to develop mutually beneficial partnerships with ‘hyperscalers’[1] for new business opportunities.

Dr Ong Geok Chwee, CEO of Bridge Alliance says : “MEC is an area of growth which many telecom operators are focusing on as our industry moves towards edge computing. Given the current fragmented regional telecom market, there is a need to work towards integration and interoperability as a common goal. We are delighted to work with TM Forum towards standardisation and an industry-approved architecture in MEC to drive the growth and deployment of MEC use cases. By sharing knowledge and resources, we will help our ecosystem of operators and service providers evolve with the developing edge computing market and compete globally.”

Nik Willetts, CEO of TM Forum comments: “Alongside AI and 5G, MEC is one of a ‘perfect storm’ of digital-infrastructure technologies that will unlock the potential of Industry 4.0 and exciting new B2B2x services. For the telecoms industry to seize these opportunities for growth, we need open standards that make it easy to partner, federate, operate and assure MEC solutions end-to-end. By working with Bridge Alliance, we have a unique opportunity to rapidly co-create, test and prove effective standards fit for the real world.”

Bridge Alliance is driving Proof-of-Concept and live deployments of MEC services through its Federated Edge Hub that connects MEC platforms across its member operators, allowing them to easily onboard their respective edge platforms and deliver on-demand edge computing services regionally to support their customers. TM Forum is exploring the integration, interoperability, and service management challenges associated with MEC through its Open APIs and Catalyst rapid proof-of-concept programs.

For more information on TM Forum’s Open APIs and Catalyst Programs visit here. More information on Bridge Alliance’s Federated Edge Hub can be found here.

[1] Hyperscale companies are those which have the ability to operate massive cloud, data, networking and internet services. Alibaba, Amazon, Microsoft and Google are examples.

About Bridge Alliance

Bridge Alliance is the leading mobile alliance for premier operators and their customers in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Our alliance covers 34 members who serve close to 900 million customers collectively across these regions. Our goal is to build group capabilities and create value for our members by enabling compelling roaming services and experience, offering multi-market enterprise and IoT solutions, and delivering savings and benefits through leveraging group economies.

Bridge Alliance’s members and partners include: Airtel (India, Sri Lanka and the Airtel subsidiaries in Africa: Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia), AIS (Thailand), China Telecom (China), China Unicom (China), CSL Mobile (Hong Kong), CTM (Macau), Globe Telecom (Philippines), Maxis (Malaysia), Metfone (Cambodia), MobiFone (Vietnam), Optus (Australia), Singtel (Singapore), SK Telecom (South Korea), stc (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait), SoftBank Corp. (Japan), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan), and Telkomsel (Indonesia).

About TM Forum

TM Forum is an association of over 850 member companies, which include 10 of the world’s top 10 network and communications providers and stretch across 180 countries. Our members tap into each other’s collective experiences and abilities to collaboratively solve complex industry-wide challenges, deploy new services and create technology breakthroughs to accelerate change.

We help communications service providers (CSPs) and their suppliers to digitally transform and thrive in the digital era. We do this by providing an open, collaborative environment and practical support which enables CSPs and suppliers to rapidly transform their business operations, IT systems and ecosystems to capitalize on the opportunities presented in a rapidly evolving digital world.