Telecom edge AI is pushing intelligence closer to where data is created, making networks central to how information and inference move. That shift is creating new opportunities for providers to pair networking with compute and operations to deliver low-latency AI services.

Telecom has a chance to turn its network position into a bigger market advantage by building data-centric architectures and creating new ways to monetize services. That evolution is elevating routing — the steering of traffic across networks — to become a strategic part of the value chain, rather than just background infrastructure, according to Jeff Aaron (pictured), vice president of product and solutions marketing at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

“A big reason for [reignited interest in routing] is AI workloads. They’re moving everywhere now. They have to move to the edge,” Aaron said. “For them to move to the edge, you’ve got to get them outside of the factory and to all the locations. We’re right in the core of that, and it’s super exciting.”

Aaron spoke with theCUBE’s John Furrier at MWC Barcelona, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed telecom edge AI and why networking is becoming a strategic foundation for data-centric services. (* Disclosure below.)

The telecom edge AI opportunity

As AI expands to the edge, data will need to move not only to local compute, but also between many distributed edge sites, making routing paramount. There are four ways AI infrastructure is scaling — inside data centers and across distributed edge locations, according to Aaron.

“There’s scale-out, scale-across, scale-up, and on-ramp,” he said. “Two are within the data center — scale-out and scale-up — but scale-across and edge on-ramp basically mean you got to figure out how to connect to those areas, and those are just networking.”

Scale-across refers to connecting distributed data centers and edge locations, while edge on-ramp brings remote sites such as factories or branch locations into the network to access AI services. Supporting those distributed environments creates an opportunity for HPE to bring networking and compute together into a more integrated infrastructure stack. At MWC Barcelona, those trends are clearly coming into focus, according to Aaron.

“Data is moving everywhere right now, and the network is back,” he said. “The network isn’t just plumbing. The network is how you build a value-added service using an AI workload as a telco infrastructure.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of MWC Barcelona:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for MWC Barcelona. Sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage do not have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE