Open cloud computing infrastructure and automation are key to 5G

Early 5G deployments are limited in coverage scope and capacity but, as operators fine tune their spectrum allocation, scale service offerings and the technology continues to mature, expect much more than simply an enhanced mobile broadband experience. Indeed, the long view on 5G envisions low latency and ultra reliable applications delivered to enterprises and industries of all sorts via bespoke network slices. But to get from where we are today to where we want to be, operators and ecosystem partners will need to continue investments in virtualizing network functions and distributing cloud compute infrastructure out to the edge of the network.IBM’s Steve Canepa, managing director of the company’s Global Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment Industry business, said IBM followed trends within the telco sector–namely convergence of content creation/ownership and distribution, to better serve the end-to-end value chain in a unified go-to-market organization. As that paradigm is emboldened by the advent of 5G, “What we’ve been working on is kind of a movement toward a hybrid, multi-cloud world,” he told RCR Wireless News in a recent interview. “These workloads that are running in different places have to be stitched together to create value.”