Dell, SK team up for 5G mobile edge computing market

South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. (SKT) has joined hands with Dell Technologies Inc. to launch a 5G mobile edge computing (MEC) platform designed to reduce delays in data transmission, targeting global enterprise customers.

Their joint MEC platform, Petasus, will be provided for both general purpose and customized applications. Later SK will link Petasus to public clouds so that it can be widely adopted by companies.

"The Petasus 5G MEC solution combines SKT’s 5G MEC solution and Dell PowerEdge servers," SK said in a statement on Monday. Petasus is the name of a hat worn by ancient Greeks.

"Going forward, the solution will support integration with MEC solutions of other telecom companies and provide an app store-like feature for MEC services applications." 

MEC is emerging as a key technology for specialized 5G services such as smart factories, autonomous driving and immersive media using virtual and augmented technologies.

By installing small-scale data centers at base stations closer to mobile users, a 5G MEC platform reduces network congestion and thereby improves the speed and reliability of data transmission of applications.

For instance, by setting up a 5G MEC within a factory, data that travels to and from the factory can be processed onsite instead of having to go through the central data center located hundreds of kilometers away.

"The two companies plan to provide the Petasus solution not only to global telecom companies, but also to businesses and public institutions throughout the globe that plan to adopt private 5G networks," SK added.

In particular, they will strengthen their cooperation in 5G end-to-end business, which includes consulting, infrastructure deployment and maintenance services.

SK Telecom expects its 5G MEC technology to boost the adoption of 5G services, which boast a much faster speed of data downloads than 4G networks, around the globe.

Down the road, the Korean mobile carrier will further expand into the software-as-a-service business in partnership with Dell and other domestic and overseas companies.

Driven by telecom operators' advance into MEC services to promote 5G networks, the MEC market is projected to grow to $23.4 billion won by 2028 from an estimated 2.4 trillion won in 2021, according to Grand View Research.

Write to Sung-Soo Bae at baebae@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.