American Tower and Crown Castle both exploring colocation of edge computing appliances at cell tower sites

Latency-dependent services command not just network densification, but also distribution of data center-type compute and storage functionality to the network edge. In the telecom industry, edge computing is certainly a going concern particularly as it relates to the support for massive internet of things implementations and mission critical communications, both major 5G use cases. But the process of deploying edge equipment is, among many things, a complex real estate equation–think of the lessons learned related to small cell densification efforts. In short, we know we need edge computing but where will the necessary infrastructure go?

Wireless infrastructure provider Crown Castle has some 40,000 cell towers in the U.S., with more than 70% in major markets, and American Tower has more than 45,000 domestic tower sites. With that kind of real estate reach, not to mention ready access to power and backhaul, it’s clear why both companies are looking for new opportunities related to edge computing.