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Open grid network to be deployed in Barcelona
Collaborative project aims to improve the delivery of new, monetisable services by reducing data traffic towards the core of the wireless and fibre networks.
Vapor IO has teamed with Cellnex Telecom to expand its Kinetic Grid platform for delivering edge and grid services to Europe.
The first deployment will be in Barcelona and will add to the 36 cities presently served by Vapor IO in the US. This edge grid is anticipated to proliferate across Europe over the next couple of years thanks to the considerable infrastructure (138,000 sites) for digital services that Cellnex currently operates.
Low latency services
This collaborative project aims to improve the delivery of new, monetisable services by reducing data traffic towards the core of the wireless and fibre networks, enhancing data sovereignty and enabling the development of stable, low latency services such as real-time computer vision for public safety, autonomous vehicles, industrial robotics, medical imaging, smart retail, and online gaming.
Moreover, the project will enable the efficient deployment of virtualised radio access network technology (Open Ranor vRan).
Cellnex is making available a portfolio of small edge data centres and tower ground space for hosting the necessary equipment for edge computing. In addition, several fibre routes, provided by Cellnex and/or Cellnex´s mobile network operator customers, will interconnect these edge data centres creating a ‘grid’ of edge nodes.
“It is expected that in the coming years there will be an explosion in applications and services that require computing in places physically closer to the end user, which implies an increase in the demand for this type of infrastructure”
“This agreement with Vapor IO strengthens Cellnex’s strategy of leveraging infrastructure in locations co-located with operator equipment at the towers or edge data centres, that will give rise to organic revenue growth for the company,” said Eduardo Fichmann, global director of innovation and product strategy at Cellnex.
“It is expected that in the coming years there will be an explosion in applications and services that require computing in places physically closer to the end user, which implies an increase in the demand for this type of infrastructure.”
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He continued: “Vapor IO´s track record of building dozens of markets at scale using a just-in-time delivery model, and Cellnex’s industrial model of deploying and managing distributed telecommunications infrastructure at scale in Europe, will allow the roll-out of edge nodes in European locations over coming years.”
Vapor IO’s global Kinetic Grid platform delivers next generation internet and communications capabilities to metropolitan regions by bringing networking and automation software that enables micro modular data centres, software defined networks and hyperscale backbones to operate autonomously in highly distributed edge locations, such as cell tower sites and edge data centres.
“We invite cloud and technology providers to leverage our edge and grid computing infrastructure to deploy new classes of high-performance applications that cannot be serviced by today’s cloud infrastructure”
Kinetic Grid combines neutral, multi-tenant colocation with software-defined interconnection and high-speed networking to deliver flexible, highly distributed Internet and communications infrastructure at the edge of the wired and wireless networks.
“Vapor IO and Cellnex share a common commitment to neutral host infrastructure. Vapor IO’s Kinetic Grid is both cloud-neutral and carrier-neutral, meaning it is one of the few locations at the edge where both carriers and clouds can meet on equal terms,” added Cole Crawford, founder and CEO of Vapor IO.
“We invite cloud and technology providers to leverage our edge and grid computing infrastructure to deploy new classes of high-performance applications that cannot be serviced by today’s cloud infrastructure.”
Open grid networking
Vapor IO is developing the largest global open grid networking, colocation and interconnection platform capable of supporting the most demanding low-latency workloads at the edge of the wireless and wireline access networks.
The company’s Kinetic Grid architecture combines neutral host colocation with software-defined interconnection, high-speed networking, and telemetry-based intelligence.
Cellnex Telecom is a Spanish-based independent wireless telco and broadcasting infrastructures operator that enables operators to access its network on a shared-use basis. Cellnex manages a portfolio of more than 138,000 sites – including forecast rollouts up to 2030 – in Spain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland.
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How does the Kinetic Grid reduce data traffic to core networks?What benefits does edge computing bring to autonomous vehicle systems?How will Cellnex’s infrastructure support low latency public safety services?In what ways does neutral host infrastructure enhance cloud and carrier collaboration?How can virtualised RAN technology improve network efficiency in Barcelona?BarcelonaCAVsCellnex TelecomCitizen SecurityCloud and edge computingconnected and autonomous vehiclesConnectivity & DataData marketplace/PlatformFibre networksGovernance and CitizenmobilityVapor IO
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