Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is looking toward hybrid computing as a compelling opportunity for human and device interface at the edge.

Mobile devices are becoming multisensory communication gateways for professional and personal use. The coming of fast, low-latency communication solutions such as 5G will create an entire new operating system at the edge.

For Samsung, hybrid means an “intelligent human edge,” with robust data processing capabilities at the device level.

“The devices themselves are getting that much more powerful and compact,” said K.C. Choi (pictured), corporate executive vice president and general manager of the Global Mobile B2B/B2G team at Samsung Electronics. “Now we’re thinking about hybrid more in terms of the type of processing capability that you can put in the hands of the human or on the device. At that point, you start to get different use cases that emerge from that.”

Choi spoke with John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Mobile World Congress event. They discussed Samsung’s initiatives around interoperability and opportunity for cloud-driven innovation in the telco world. (* Disclosure below.)

Expanding virtualized RAN

A key area of focus for Samsung has been interoperability, driven in part by its initiatives in the virtualized radio access network, or RAN, space. In June, Samsung announced that it has been chosen by Vodafone as one of the vendors to build a large Open RAN network in the U.K.

With Verizon Communications Inc. as one of its big vRAN customers in the U.S. market, the Vodafone deal is the first opportunity for Samsung to bring its cloud native virtualized RAN to a top European operator.

“We think it’s time to extend the interoperability of what we are seeing on the IT side of the equation and really driven by cloud native,” Choi explained. “We embarked on this in earnest last year with IBM and Red Hat and VMware in opening up edge architecture to the open-source community and microservices architectures. This has been one of the key focus areas for us.”

Choi’s extensive career in the technology industry has provided him with perspective on the role of cloud native and its potential to transform the telco industry, particularly in the aftermath of an unprecedented year.

“I hope we’re wiser and more imaginative coming out of this,” Choi said. “After being in this industry for 30 years, I’ve not seen the types of things that we’ve seen over the last couple. I hope this is a pivot point for all of us.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Mobile World Congress event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Mobile World Congress. Neither TelcoDR Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE