Amazon Web Services (AWS) made a big splash late last year with the announcement of its 5G Private Wireless product, and Microsoft has previously unveiled Azure private multi-access edge compute. But Google has not announced anything similar.
The lack of a turn-key private wireless product is especially notable for Google because the company has been a leader in the technology. Google’s Principle Wireless Architect Preston Marshall was a major proponent of the move to get Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum auctioned for private wireless usage. And Google is one of the spectrum access system (SAS) administrators for CBRS.
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Amol Phadke, managing director for Telecom Industry Solutions at Google Cloud, spoke with FierceWireless this week. Asked if Google planned to create a private wireless offering, Phadke said, “Our approach to building campus solutions is based on ecosystems. We are partnering rather than saying we have a private 5G solution.”
He said Google has a large ecosystem of partners such as Nokia, Ericsson and Casa Systems, to name a few. Its partners can provide technology including packet core and radio access network (RAN) functions, that can be packaged as a private wireless solution based on the needs of each specific customer.
Google and Verizon
Besides its work with telecom vendors to provide private wireless solutions, Google has also gained several service providers as customers.
Most recently, in December 2021, Verizon said it was using Google’s Distributed Cloud Edge is to bring compute and storage services to the network edge to support real-time enterprise applications.
According to Verizon, Google’s edge technology will enable the bandwidth and low latency needed to support real-time enterprise applications like autonomous mobile robots and factory automation.
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Verizon already had previously-established cloud relationships with AWS and Microsoft.
Google and AT&T
In July 2021 AT&T said it was working with Google on 5G and edge.
And earlier in the year, the two companies said they were working together to help enterprises take advantage of Google Cloud’s technologies while using AT&T’s network connectivity at the edge.
Of course, the biggest cloud news to come out of AT&T in 2021 was the announcement that it was shifting its existing 5G mobile core network to Microsoft Azure’s hybrid cloud.
RELATED: Microsoft makes big 5G play as AT&T moves core to Azure cloud
Google Cloud has other big-named service providers as well, including Telenor in the Nordics,
Canada’s Telus and Bell Canada, Jio in India, Telefonica and Telecom Italia. In late 2019, Vodafone said it would use Google Cloud to develop and host its global data platform.