Google’s edge reach hit the mainstream as the cloud giant unveiled general availability of its Distributed Cloud Edge portfolio. The move extends its cloud tentacles into the telecommunications and edge space that is receiving increased attention from cloud and data center providers.

The Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Edge platform is targeted at telecom providers wanting to run 5G core and radio access network assets at the edge. It includes hardware and software components.

Deployment options include a rack-based configuration that has the rack, six servers, a pair of top-of-rack switches, cabling, and optics. Once installed, Google handles the management, including software updates, configuration, security, and updates to the physical components. This option is currently limited to the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Finland, and the United Kingdom.

There is also an “appliances” option targeted at bandwidth and latency challenges. The appliance options include a 1U ruggedized server, a RAID-based local NFS storage, a security trusted platform module, and an optional Nvidia GPU. These appliances can process data collection and analytics in a remote environment, storing data in a customer location or run containerized applications that can process the data locally.

Google unveiled the GDC Edge platform last October. Sachin Gupta, VP and GM of Google Cloud open infrastructure, explained during a media briefing at the time that it allows operators to run RAN functions and core network elements at the edge, providing enterprise customers high-speed bandwidth with private 5G and localized compute.

Google touted Verizon and Bell Canada as two telecom operators using the GDC Edge platform. The Verizon deal was announced late last year, where Google joined its cloud rivals Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure in supporting the carrier’s broad edge initiatives. Bell Canada added Google to its ongoing work with AWS.