Microsoft confirmed acquisition of Affirmed Networks in March
Microsoft made big telco moves ahead of its earnings call last week with the acquisition of Affirmed Networks and announcement of Azure edge products for both carriers and enterprises. And, on the April 29 call with analysts, CEO Satya Nadella provided commentary on Microsoft’s ambitions around supporting 5G applications at the network edge.
On March 31, Microsoft announced Azure Edge Zones and Azure Private Edge Zones, the former an Azure cloud service meant to connect directly to 5G networks and the latter a private LTE/5G network combined with on-prem Azure Stack Edge.
According to a transcript of the earnings call, Nadella said Microsoft has “the only cloud that extends to the edge, with consistency across operating models, development environments, and infrastructure stack.” He said Azure Edge Zones and 5G will “enable immersive, real-time experiences that require ultra-low latency. And our acquisition of Affirmed Networks will help operators deploy and maintain 5G networks and services cost effectively and securely.”
For some time now, Microsoft has been working with operators on integrating edge computing capabilities with 5G networks and Azure cloud services, with AT&T being one of the company’s most notable 5G partners. At last year’s MWC, AT&T announced its partnership with Microsoft for the development of a proof of concept to integrate network edge compute capabilities using its 5G network in conjunction with Azure cloud services, and solution that both company’s stated would prove important for IoT use cases in a number of industries including retail, healthcare, public safety, entertainment, and manufacturing.
Nadella said the edge zones initiative and Affirmed acquisition “speaks to I think what is going to be the secular infrastructure architecture going forward. It’s not just about migrating off-premise, but it’s going to be able to have an architecture that supports the needs where edge compute is increasingly going to be very important.”
Analyst Jim Patterson posed the question, “Is Microsoft the new Ericsson?” in the most recent installment of his recurring The Sunday Brief; that’s available here.
But beyond its new edge focus and the Affirmed acquisition, “There’s a lot more to do to compete with Ericsson,” Patterson wrote, “and it’s unlikely that Microsoft would focus its energies on integrating LTE into 5G (they might start with private networks that only interoperate at the 5G level using the 5G standalone or SA standard). But Microsoft is definitely taking steps to replace traditional telecom infrastructure providers and firmly detach operating systems from hardware. And they have $137 billion in cash and marketable securities on their balance sheet, a global presence, and the ear of every Fortune 1000 Global CIO.”
Azure Edge Zones for carriers and enterprises
In a blog post on the Azure Edge Zones strategy, Microsoft Corporate VP, Azure Networking, Yousef Khalidi laid out the big picture. “Cloud, edge computing, and IoT are making strides to transform whole industries and create opportunities that weren’t possible just a few years ago. With the rise of 5G mobile connectivity, there are even more possibilities to deliver immersive, real-time experiences that have demanding, ultra-low latency, and connectivity requirements. 5G opens new frontiers with enhanced mobile broadband up to 10x faster, reliable low-latency communication, and very high device density up to 1 million devices per square kilometer.”
For carriers, Microsoft called out opportunities around online gaming, remote meetings and events and smart infrastructure. The commercial offering is based in part of earlier work done with AT&T. In addition to AT&T, named operator partners include Etisalat, NTT, Proximus, Rogers, SK Telecom, Telefonica, Telstra and Vodafone Business.
Target verticals for the Azure Private Edge Zones, as delineated in the blog post, include IoT for smart factories, logistics and operations, and connected health care.
