Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) says it has opened a 5G and Edge Technology Development Center in its Equinix DA11 International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Dallas. Equipped with technology from Nokia, the facility will enable service providers and network operators to test and validate 5G services and use cases.
The company announced plans for such a development center in June 2020 (see “Equinix to add data center, 5G Proof of Concept Center to Dallas Infomart campus”). Equinix sees the facility as a “sand box” in which mobile network operators (MNOs), cloud platforms, technology vendors, and enterprises can work to develop applications. The Equinix Fabric capabilities of DA11 will be made available for such purposes. Initial use cases for study will include:
- Mobile Hybrid Multicloud Connectivity
- Network Slicing
- Distributed Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- Enablement and Orchestration of Infrastructure
- Augmented and Virtual Reality
- Gaming.
The first company to take advantage of the facility is Exium, which has run its Secure Edge capabilities to enable secure, seamless multi-access edge compute functionality with tightly integrated security and network functions that extend from the cloud to edge locations and to individual devices. Equinix says that deploying Exium’s technology in its data centers will enable customers enjoy close to on-premises performance with the benefits of cloud aggregation and also manage enterprise-grade traffic breakout in real time.
"Applications and artificial intelligence are moving to the edge, whether we're ready or not," commented Farooq Muzaffar, COO, Exium. "As enterprises embrace digital transformation, automation, and intelligence at the edge, it's crucial to have a partner like Equinix. The 5G and Edge Technology Development Center has been an incredible resource for us and our customers as we incubate, develop, and deploy secure edge AI services with 5G access."
"As companies develop new 5G technologies and services, they need a real-world environment to test and bring their concepts to life," said Justin Dustzadeh, CTO, Equinix. "With Equinix's rich ecosystem of service providers, partners and clouds, the 5G and Edge Technology Development Center is an ideal place to fully test their concepts in a real way, enabling them to bring new capabilities to market, accelerate adoption and deliver new revenue streams faster."
"As we look to a future where 5G is ubiquitous, the way that IP traffic moves between networks around the world will change completely, and interconnected data centers will play a crucial role in this new 5G-dominated future," added Sean Hemphill, vice president, webscale business at Nokia. "Equinix's approach to digital infrastructure enables access to a large ecosystem of end users and service providers. Nokia IP solutions underpin Equinix Fabric, providing seamless interconnection between its global data centers. We're pleased that Equinix Fabric will bring the power of interconnection to help customers test real-world 5G and edge deployments."
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