Microsoft Expands Capabilities of Azure Private MEC Platform

Microsoft is updating the Azure Private Multi-Access Edge Compute (MEC) platform with new capabilities to support more complex customer needs. The Private MEC platform is designed to bring the capabilities of the Azure Stack Edge family in conjunction with edge networking needs like 5G, LoRa, SatCom, and others together. For example, a Private MEC would allow a customer to provide 5G service directly in a manufacturing location to support IoT and other needs. With the latest updates, the Azure Private 5G Core is now available. 5G Core provides standalone 5G networking as well as supporting 4G radios. Also, the Azure Edge Network Fabric has been released which provides policy-based routing. Finally, Radio Access Network (RAN) Observability is being released to help better monitor and manage these Private MEC solutions. Details on these updates to the Azure Private MEC platform can be found here. 

Why This Matters

• Many organizations that operate warehousing, manufacturing, or other related services find challenging signal strength and have been limited in the applications and services that can be deployed to these locations. The Private MEC platform is designed to address these needs bringing cloud capabilities to these locations as well as more modern connection services. 
• As the Private MEC platform runs Kubernetes-based apps, it allows an app that normally runs in Azure to run at the edge. 
• Microsoft (currently) has a larger partner pool of companies offering hardware and services while the Azure services and consumption runs through the normal Azure portal. This gives customers a lot of flexibility in putting together the type of solution they need.