Dell Technologies Inc. and AT&T Inc. said today they’re working together to develop open-source infrastructure necessary to enable the “network edge” ahead of the transition from 4G to 5G wireless networks.

The network edge refers to a concept known as “edge computing,” where data produced by mobile devices is processed closer to its source instead of sending it across long routes to data centers or clouds.

It is typically referred to in “internet of things” use cases, where edge devices collect data and send it all to a data center or cloud for processing. But with edge computing, the data is processed as much a possible onsite, reducing the backhaul traffic to the central repository.

That’s done by the IoT devices transferring the data to a local device that includes compute, storage and network connectivity in a small form factor. Data is processed at the edge, with only the most vital information being sent to a corporate or public cloud data center. The advantage of processing data closer to the network edge is that organizations can analyze it in near real-time, which is an important capability for many industries.

Dell and AT&T say 5G will be a key aspect of enabling the network edge because it will lead to “more dynamic, agile edge compute, storage and networking solutions on an unprecedented scale.”

But enabling 5G itself will require a transforming existing network infrastructures into distributed architectures based on Network Functions Virtualization and other software-defined technologies. These new networks will be necessary to automate the delivery and management of mobile services and new analytics-driven telemetry to ensure consistent service levels, the companies said.

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said the initiative is really more of an attempt by AT&T to salvage its NFV platform, which has been open-sourced under the umbrella of its “Airship” project. AT&T says Airship is a collection of loosely coupled, but interoperable, open-source tools that can automate cloud provisioning and lifecycle management, using application containers as the primary method of software delivery. Those tools include its NFV platform and other software-defined networking technologies.

Mueller said the initiative is mainly targeted at telecommunications providers, and it’s well-timed because many are in the process of replacing existing infrastructure in order to install 5G networks.

“With the advent of 5G there is a nice use case for telcos to get NFV right,” Mueller said. “It’s no surprise AT&T is partnering with Dell since it will most likely run all or at least a large part of the 5G NFV load on-premises. For Dell the benefit is that this may be one of the last big on-premises data center bonanzas for any infrastructure vendor.”

Ultimately, the companies said, they hope other network operators will standardize on their 5G infrastructure blueprint.

“Dell Technologies addition to the Airship community reaffirms the industry’s growing trust and investment in the open infrastructure model,” Amy Wheelus, vice president of AT&T Network Cloud, said in a statement. “This collaboration will not only enable us to accelerate the AT&T Network Cloud on Dell Technologies’ infrastructure, but also further the broader community goal of making it as simple as possible for operators to deploy and manage open infrastructure in support of SDN and other workloads.”

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