Telstra’s managed service business Telstra Purple is teaming up with Microsoft and Ericsson to offer Australia’s first 5G-enabled edge compute solution.
The solution called Branch Offload will use a range of technologies, including Telstra’s 5G and fixed connectivity, Microsoft’z Azure Stack Edge for edge compute, Secure Edge, SD-WAN and service orchestration.
Branch Offload will be delivered as a managed service from Telstra Purple and is planned for scaled deployment in late FY22.
The telco said that the solution will extend private connectivity and cloud services to the network edge to bring compute, storage and marketplace services closer to customers.
Through its collaboration with Microsoft and Ericsson, Telstra believes Branch Offload will deliver an automated, scalable and secure platform that will continue to be developed and enhanced in future.
Christopher Smith, Head of Telstra Purple, said Telstra’s longstanding and strong collaboration with Microsoft and Ericsson continued to deliver global network and technology leadership for Australian organisations.
“Many businesses have found it challenging to simplify their disparate networks and securely run temporary or permanent sites. Branch Offload – with 5G at its core – will be a game changer for many industries as it will deliver significant network optimisation and greater application performance,” Smith said.
Jan Karlsson, Head of Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson said the collaboration with Telstra is set to accelerate enterprise digitalisation.
“We’ve also contributed to Branch Offload and Telstra’s incoming 5G-enabled edge offerings by providing cloud native 5G Core, including cloud infrastructure for edge deployment, along with our end-to-end service orchestration solution,” Karlsson said.
“They together enable the automation and scaling of the network slicing and advanced connectivity capabilities needed to deliver these services. With this initiative, we together realise further, smart 5G benefits for enterprises,” he said.
Shawn Hakl, Vice President, 5G Strategy, Azure for Operators at Microsoft Corp. said that Microsoft’s cloud capabilities and Azure ecosystem enables a cloud-to-edge continuum that will support enterprises to digitise its operations.
“Branch Offload is a leading example of how to innovate and utilise powerful compute and storage at the edge of customers’ networks,” Hakl said.
Source: Telstra
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