Vapor IO and Comcast partnering on a pilot to enable third-party edge service providers to host data and applications in local Comcast markets. The pilot will kick off with projects in Chicago and Atlanta.
“By enabling edge service providers to bring their data and applications closer to end-users, Vapor IO and Comcast will help to enable faster response times, lower latency, favorable economics, and better overall user experiences,” the companies said in a press release.
The pilot will be based on Vapor IO’s Kinetic Grid platform. Vapor IO is one of several data center operators that have concentrated on offering facilities close to end users, a departure from monolithic data centers often located at considerable distances from end users.
Edge computing has become an important area of infrastructure investment.
As Comcast and Vapor IO explain in a press release today, the combined offering will “allow enterprises to quickly adopt near-premises services to rapidly accelerate innovation cycles and deploy new technologies without the cost and frustrations commonly associated with performing the same tasks on their premises.”
Among the capabilities that edge computing is expected to support:
- Computer vision as a service.
- Video security as a service.
- Private 5G as a service.
- Edge cloud as a service.
- Various “smart” services
The companies expect to start pilots in Chicago and Atlanta in the third quarter of the year.
“Our extensive network facilities are located in close proximity to businesses across the country and that presents an exciting opportunity to work with Vapor IO, specifically in Chicago and Atlanta, to enable new edge services that take advantage of the low latency and high bandwidth capabilities of our network,” Elad Nafshi, Comcast chief network officer, said in a prepared statement.
