Edge data centers are set to drive the broader telecom server market over the next several years as operators look to further monetize their 5G deployments.

A recent report from Dell’Oro Group predicted the overall telecom server market will hit $14 billion by 2026, with most of that growth coming from servers in support of multi-access edge computing (MEC) services. This will come as operators continue to virtualize and open radio access network (RAN) functions.

“A new class of latency-sensitive applications in the form of [MEC], and virtualization of the baseband functions in the radio access networks in the form of open RAN, will pave the way for the explosive growth of a new class of servers located at the network edge,” Baron Fung, research director at Dell’Oro Group, wrote.

The report notes edge use cases for broadband access, MEC, and RAN will surpass 50% compound annual growth rate in server revenue over the next several years.

The firm also expects an increasing amount of telecom workloads will migrate to the public cloud. Many of these functions will be supported by increased capacity from public cloud providers deploying edge data centers.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), for example, just added a second Wavelength location in the United Kingdom, expanding the reach of the hyperscaler’s MEC-focused platform in that country.

AWS’ Wavelength deployments include compute and storage services deployed at carrier edge locations and are targeted at allowing the deployment of low-latency services. It works alongside the hyperscaler’s Local Zones, which are an extension of its different cloud regions, and its Outposts platform that brings native AWS services, infrastructure, and operating models to a data center, co-location space, or on-premises facility.

AWS’ latest deployment is tied to work with European-based telecom giant Vodafone, but it also counts Wavelength customers in the United States, Germany, South Korea, Japan, and Canada.

Verizon has been one of AWS’ most aggressive Wavelength customers in the U.S., with the operator tied in to nearly 20 Wavelength locations across the country. Andrea Caldini, VP of network engineering at Verizon, recently told SDxCentral that those efforts are helping the operator solve enterprise use cases.

“As you’re creating these solutions, you’re looking to have your workloads closer, so you might have a low-latency need and need to have that workload closer,” Caldini said, adding that this private and public MEC integration then allows an enterprise to adjust where they want to run applications and still have it all under strict control. “They all come together as you create these new services to support a business need.”

ABI Research in its own recent report noted similar growth opportunities for the telecom edge ecosystem.

The firm noted “the telco network edge is of the utmost importance for 5G commercialization as it provides the foundation to offer vertical-specific network services; but it remains underdeveloped with a small global footprint and few applications deployed.” It explained the lack of initial development has been due to telco “investment risk aversion and the lack of cloud competency to accelerate rollout.”

“To access this opportunity, telcos must look to accelerate their usage of distributed compute (utilizing geographically distributed resources to perform compute and storage functions) resources to support network deployment and service delivery by improving customizability, accessibility, and programmability,” Reece Hayden, distributed and edge compute analyst at ABI Research, wrote in the report. “This will enable telcos to deploy applications and services that solve enterprise problems and attract the real value in the market.”