Amazon AWS: AWS Wavelength Zone is Being Implemented by BT in Manchester

Wavelength Zones are being implemented across the UK by UK telecom BT in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), beginning in Manchester. Wavelength gives users access to cloud services in a local AWS Region and embeds Amazon compute and storage capabilities at the edge of 5G networks for communications service providers. Wavelength, according to the business, reduces network hops and latency since application data may reach servers without leaving the mobile carriers' network when connecting from a 5G device to an AWS-hosted application. This week, BT revealed a "multi-million-pound investment" to use its EE network to provide 5G and 4G mobile Edge computing services to UK enterprises. 

The telecom announced that it would start by turning on a new AWS Wavelength Zone in Manchester, which will support trials for qualified companies and government agencies within a 62-mile radius. AWS Wavelength Zones will be implemented across the UK in the upcoming years, according to BT. Applications can connect to servers without leaving BT's network by hosting AWS services at the edge of EE's UK network, decreasing latency. Deployments of the Internet of Things might be use cases. As a test experiment was started in Los Angeles in December 2019, Wavelength Zones was initially publicized in collaboration with Verizon. Along with the US telecom, Wavelength Zones is now accessible in 19 US locations. 

In 2021, Wavelength Zones were introduced in the UK by AWS and Vodafone. The businesses started in London and then extended to Manchester. Just the UK has two official Wavelength partners at this time. SK Telecom in South Korea, Vodafone in Germany, KDDI in Japan, and Bell Canada in Canada all provide Wavelength Zones. While not yet live, Telefónica recently disclosed that it had been testing a Wavelength Zone in Madrid, Spain.