Singtel upped its enterprise play, teaming with Microsoft to deliver what  the operator claimed is the first multi-access edge compute (MEC) product for businesses in Asia.

The operator plans to deploy Microsoft Azure Edge Zones on its 5G network, a combination Singtel stated would enable rapid deployment of services spanning real-time simulations and live video analytics in a multi-tenant setting.

Singtel cited public sector services as one potential beneficiary of the Microsoft tie-up, adding MEC would deliver a bump in security and performance, “enabling new intelligent edge scenarios”.

It also noted potential in public safety, urban planning, healthcare, banking, transport and logistics.

Bill Chang, CEO of Group Enterprise at Singtel, branded the collaboration a “milestone for edge computing in Asia”, predicting benefits for companies’ digital transformation efforts.

The service will be publicly available in H2 for Azure customers in Singapore using their current subscriptions. The operator highlighted a “cloud consumption model”, noting enterprises would only be billed for the “amount of compute and storage” used along with the duration.

The operator launched standalone 5G in 2021 and is required to cover half of the city state by the end of this year.