Singtel and Microsoft Azure partner for Asia enterprises

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Singtel has partnered with Microsoft Azure to launch a multi-access edge compute (MEC) for enterprises in Asia. The solution integrates the speed, hyperconnectivity, and high bandwidth of Singtel’s 5G network with Microsoft Azure services, enabling developers to deploy and manage mission-critical applications that require high rates of production and low latency.

According to a statement by Singtel, this solution will help boost business capabilities in areas such as metaverse-based real-time simulations, and live video analytics in a multi-tenant environment. In addition to running low-latency applications using Singtel’s 5G network, the solution has the potential to transform operations in sectors such as public safety, urban planning, healthcare, banking, civil service, transportation and logistics. It also offers high security for customers in the public sector and better performance for end-users, enabling new intelligent edge scenarios.

Bill Chang, CEO, group enterprise at Singtel said that the company is always looking for ways to support enterprises in leveraging the potential of 5G for digital transformation to drive innovation for the benefit of consumers, business users and entire industries. "This solution enables enterprises to streamline the integration of 5G and MEC into business operations, facilitate the development of new solutions, and scale and transform their business," he added.

The solution will be publicly available in the second half of 2022 for Azure customers in Singapore through the Azure portal to rapidly develop, test and deploy 5G applications such as autonomous guided vehicles, drones, robotics and virtual, augmented or mixed reality. Customers will be able to use their existing Azure subscriptions, and will only have to pay for the amount of compute and storage they use for the duration which they use it, replicating the cloud consumption model at the network edge and saving on additional operational overhead.

Yousef Khalidi, corporate VP Azure for operators, Microsoft said that, coupled with Azure for operators, Singtel will empower its customers to unlock business value at the network edge. "The integration of Azure compute services with Singtel’s 5G network will enable enterprises and developers to provide low-latency applications across industries such as public sector and healthcare," he added.

This comes amidst Singtel’s plans to optimise and grow the value of its portfolio of quality infrastructure assets including mobile towers, data centres, subsea cables and satellites, by capitalising on structural tailwinds of digitalisation, soaring demand for data accelerated by COVID-19, and burgeoning investor demand for infrastructure as an asset class.

In October last year, Singtel beefed up its regional data centre business by entering into advanced talks with Telkom Indonesia and inking a Memorandum of Understanding with Thailand's Gulf Energy. The Singapore telco was in discussions with Telkom Indonesia to explore acquiring and building data centre assets in Indonesia and the region. Meanwhile, its MoU with Gulf Energy allows both parties to pursue the opportunity of building and developing data centres across Thailand. Singtel's regional data centre business will form part of a regional digital infrastructure platform to capture new growth opportunities arising from the digital wave sweeping Asia. Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia jointly make up more than 70% of the data centre market in ASEAN, Singtel said then.

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