AWS and Vodafone Business are working together to further accelerate 5G application development through a new incubation program, Vodafone Business Edge Innovation Program (EIP).
This three-month program gives start-ups, ISVs, businesses and freelance developers access to edge computing training and expert support from Vodafone and AWS to help them develop, test and deploy a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) 5G application on AWS Wavelength and Vodafone 5G network.
Vodafone and AWS have said both companies will select up to 20 projects from submitted proposals, and the projects will receive exclusive access to 5G devices, technical support, and expert help develop a full-fledged pilot deployment in the UK or Germany.
Last year, the pair announced a collaboration to roll out distributed multi-access edge computing (MEC), embedding AWS Wavelength at the edge of Vodafone’s 5G networks, during re:Invent 2019.
“Working with AWS on edge computing means we are making it simpler for both independent software vendors and our customers to experiment with this emerging technology,” said Vinod Kumar, CEO Vodafone Business.
“We’re doing this by offering an incubation space to create and test applications that we can then industrialize and scale.
“And we’re already seeing some innovative applications that provide positive business outcomes from Dedrone, Digital Barriers, HERE Technologies, Groopview, and Unleash live, with so much more to come once our MEC innovation program is running.”
Vodafone Business has deployed pilot programs with AWS Wavelength on the Vodafone 5G network edge to help developers build applications that require low-latency connectivity to mobile devices and end users.
By embedding AWS compute and storage services at the edge of Vodafone Business’s 4G and 5G network, the two companies are enabling developers to build innovative applications on the AWS infrastructure and deploy them at the network node closest to their end users.
“The rapid rollout of 5G networks around the world, combined with the benefits of MEC, is facilitating advancements for a variety of use cases,” said the company.
“For example, several developers are leveraging AWS Wavelength pilot programs on Vodafone’s 5G network to help build new applications that require ultra-low latency.”