Verizon kicked off Mobile World Congress today with a VMware collaboration that will see the carrier roll the software giant's VeloCloud SD-WAN platform into its managed services portfolio.

"These last two years, we've seen massive adoption of managed SD-WAN transformation of the WAN edge," Massimo Peselli, SVP of global enterprise at Verizon Business, said in a statement.

The service builds on VMware's VeloCloud platform and includes a centralized SD-WAN orchestrator, a network of globally distributed SD-WAN gateways, and a bevy of edge appliances for branch connectivity.

"The next generation of modern apps will run at the edge, and enterprises must modernize their underlying infrastructure to support them," Craig Connors, VP and GM of VMware's SASE business, said in a statement.

The framework VMware's SD-WAN platform is built on also serves as the foundation for a broader secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. In fact, VMware was an early adopter of the Gartner-coined product category. It claims more than 150 points of presence (PoPs) from which its SD-WAN and security functionality — in collaboration with Menlo Security — are delivered.

The platform includes security features like zero-trust network access, secure web gateway, and cloud-based firewalls, with additional services available through a collaboration with Zscaler.

VMware is the latest SD-WAN vendor welcomed into Verizon's expansive portfolio. The carrier has long offered SD-WAN services from vendors including Versa and has steadily expanded its offering to include Fortinet, Cisco, and Aruba (Silver Peak) to name a few.

The carrier last year added SASE to its managed services through an expanded partnership with Versa and cloud-security vendor Zscaler, with plans to add additional services from Cisco and Palo Alto Networks in the future.

Verizon's push into the SASE space comes as rival AT&T rapidly expands its portfolio to include Palo Alto Networks' Prisma Access and Prisma SASE; Fortinet's Fortigate and FortiSASE products; and Cisco's Viptela and Umbrella-based architectures.