The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) dropped a pair of multi-access edge computing (MEC) reports providing insight into the impact of “alternative virtualization technologies” and a deeper look into network slicing and edge computing systems. All three topics are core to the ongoing roll out of 5G networks.

The reports came from ETSI’s Multi-access Edge Computing Industry Specifications Group – or the ETSI MEC ISG for acronym aficionados.

The first report identifies additional support that needs to be provided when MEC applications run on containers. It defines the usage of those technologies in a MEC environment, the impact on deployment of MEC systems and applications, and potential updates to future ETSI MEC standards. The alternative virtualization technologies cited include virtual machines (VMs), containers, and a combination managed by an NFV Infrastructure (NFVi) platform.

The group boasts that the report found most of the ETSI MEC specifications “are virtualization-technology agnostic,” which “leads to very few updates of existing standards.” ETSI last year began work on its NFV Release 4 specifications that are focused on enhancing NFV infrastructure (NFVi) to support lightweight virtualization technologies like containers and Kubernetes.

The second new report notes the MEC functionalities needed to support network slicing and the impact they might have on future specifications. It highlights four network slicing concepts offered up by different organizations: the NGMN Alliance, the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), 3GPP, and the ETSI NFV group.

The ones from 3GPP and ETSI were given priority in the use cases included in the report as they represented “the functionalities that need to be supported in this phase.”

The reports are part of the group’s Phase 2 work. ETSI released its initial Phase 2 specifications in March. Those specifications deal with architecture, framework, and general principles for service APIs, and broaden support for different access technologies and NFV integration.

ETSI also updated previous work on its MEC Management report that are its first set of Stage 3 API specification that build on the ETSI NFV specifications. That Stage 3 work is expected to finish by the end of the year.

The new reports come amid the continued push of MEC specification efforts into an eager market. A recent report from Mobile Experts predicts the edge computing market will grow 10-fold by 2024. It notes that the edge computing trend expands from centralized hyperscale data centers to distributed edge cloud nodes, with capex spend on near edge data centers representing the largest segment of the market.

In addition to those cited in the second ETSI report, a handful of recent moves have been led by network operators.

Verizon, América Móvil, KT, Rogers, Telstra, and Vodafone this week formed the 5G Future Forum, which will support collaboration on speeding up the delivery of 5G and mobile edge computing around the world. That came on the heels of SK Telecom launching its Global MEC Task Force with Singtel, Globe, Taiwan Mobile, and PCCW Global to share what it has learned in 5G and MEC across the Asia-Pacific region.

ETSI has attempted to reduce some of this clutter. This includes an agreement the group struck last year with the Linux Foundation. That deal has incorporated the Linux Foundation’s Akraino open source edge software stack into ETSI MEC APIs. They are also working to bind Akraino and ETSI’s Open Source NFV MANO (OSM) platform as a “new type of infrastructure and virtual infrastructure manager.”

Alex Reznik, chair of the ETSI MEC ISG, explained in a recent blog post that the deal is “an important first step in a growing cooperation between two organizations which should be, over time delivering those operational, standardized components for MEC.”