Telstra collaborates with Ericsson and Microsoft to begin 5G-enabled edge compute trials

The 5G SDWAN enabled Edge solutions focused on extending private connectivity (5G and fixed) and cloud services to the customer and network edge, bringing compute, storage, network and marketplace services closer to customers.  

With early adopter enterprises such as FKG Group, Telstra is co-developing the enterprise application solutions to be offered, and testing the resiliency and scaling in order to accommodate different enterprise footprints. 

Telstra is exploring the solution in its Telstra Retail store environment rolling out a smart video solution to simplify operations and enhance the overall customer experience. 

The Edge solution uses a mixture of technologies including Telstra’s advanced 5G network, fixed connectivity, Ericsson’s Service Orchestration Cradlepoint (5G connectivity device), Microsoft Azure Stack Edge for Edge compute and SD-WAN, all enabled by automation and service orchestration.   

Nikos Katinakis, Group Executive for Network & IT at Telstra said, “Our global collaboration now extends to our enterprise customers, and we are applying a real focus on the use of these advanced technologies to solve customer and industry operational problems.” 

“These ground-breaking results are being achieved as we develop a combined, automated solution framework for the future.  We are making our network smarter, more resilient and automated, while leveraging the benefits and scale of new and advanced 5G network and cloud architectures.” 

The end-to-end solution, offered as a managed service from Telstra Purple, will be able to deliver fast and resilient connectivity, with greater availability and throughput, which is ideal for enhanced application performance. These applications help customers implement their cloud-first, IoT enablement and advanced analytics strategies. 

Grant Statton, Head of Innovation and Growth for the FKG Group said, “Technology solutions such as Edge compute will change the construction industry and its value chain for the better. 

“Our collaboration with Telstra enables the FKG Group to use applications such as AI, Robotics and AR to unlock data-driven insights and transparency across our operation. The Edge solution gives our teams the opportunity to collaborate and make decisions in real-time across different worksites to deliver projects on time and within budget.” 

Jan Karlsson, Ericsson’s Global Head of Digital Services said: “Ericsson has a proud history of delivering innovation to offer businesses a whole new world of opportunities through enhanced connectivity. In this latest Australian-first milestone, Ericsson technology provides Telstra’s 5G network with greater resiliency, optionality, and adaptability. With a simple design, scalable delivery, and modular approach, Telstra can offer a wider range of services to meet the growing needs of their customers as 5G use-cases continue to emerge.” 

Shawn Hakl, Vice President, 5G Strategy, Azure for Operators at Microsoft, said, “Our collaboration with Telstra and Ericsson to develop 5G-enabled edge solutions will drive operational flexibility and optimization for enterprises by using Microsoft Azure and Azure-managed edge compute.”