The report provides critical insights into multi-access edge computing (MEC) performance measurements that matter most.

Bangalore, June 13, 2022 – Spirent Communications, the leading provider of test and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and networks, today released a benchmarking analysis study conducted with STL Partners based on real-world mobile edge network testing and 150 interviews. The "Cutting Through the Edge Computing Hype – MEC Latency Expectations vs. Reality" report provides critical insights into multi-access edge computing (MEC) performance measurements that matter most, what can be achieved via today’s networks, and use cases with the greatest potential for near-term monetisation. The report is available here.

“In 2021, Spirent saw service provider 5G engagements increase by more than 50% year-on-year, as customers raced to make 5G a reality,” said Spirent’s Head of Market Strategy, Steve Douglas. “Market competition intensified, and the impact of the pandemic accelerated business automation and monetization plans. As a result, service providers established early partnerships with public cloud providers with heightened focus on edge-delivered low latency services, which is where our report is focused.”

With 5G comes the desire for greater responsiveness that is as close to real-time as possible, as Spirent Sr. Director of Mobile Service Strategy, Rich McNally explains: “We work with the world’s leading service providers and the expectation of near real-time latency has generated keen interest in MEC network architectures. Pushing cloud computing capabilities to the edge of the network is seen as a way to provide enterprises with improved service reliability via consistent, optimal latency and less jitter.

“Our study shows that the industry is off to a solid start, but there is still work to do. What we’re seeing through our 5G benchmarking service engagements is that the latency of real-world MEC services can fluctuate significantly - by time and across regions – with a lack of symmetry between the uplink and downlink,” said McNally.

“Ultimately, latency must be managed holistically, and end-to-end, to achieve reliable and desired customer experiences, and to meet service-level agreements (SLAs).”

The report is based on Spirent’s real-world edge network testing engagements and more than 150 interviews with prospective edge customers conducted by telco industry analysts STL Partners.

The “Cutting Through the Edge Computing Hype – MEC Latency Expectations vs. Reality” report is available for download at www.spirent.com/assets/report-cutting-through-the-edge-computing-hype.