Singtel brings Azure public MEC for all enterprises to trial

Singtel is making the Azure public multi-access edge compute (MEC) available for all enterprises, unlocking opportunities to experience the advantages of edge computing and artificial intelligence (AI) accelerated by 5G.

At the launch event, held at Microsoft’s Experience Centre Asia, Singtel also revealed its first commercial customer and the addition of partner solutions like large language modelling (LLM) to its 5G offerings.

Through this integration, National University Health System (NUHS) successfully trialled Singtel's high-speed connectivity and low latency 5G network, Paragon and Microsoft Azure, including tools and applications to help surgeons leverage mixed reality technology to better visualise organs in high resolution 3D, and plan operating procedures. Plans are underway to roll out the solution commercially later this year.

Bill Chang, Chief Executive Officer, Group Enterprise, Singtel said, “We have been steadily building our public edge product ecosystem with our partners and have now expanded to include low latency AI capabilities at the edge that our customers will find useful in taking their business to the next level. With Singtel 5G and Paragon, and Microsoft Azure public MEC, customers can rapidly develop, test and deploy 5G applications such as autonomous guided vehicles, drones, immersive virtual reality and real time digital twin use cases.”

Microsoft Azure public MEC and Azure Programmable Connectivity integrated with Singtel’s 5G network and Paragon, the industry’s first-of-its-kind all-in-one platform for 5G networks, edge computing and services orchestration, helps enterprises capitalise on 5G to explore high bandwidth and low latency use cases to transform operations in multiple sectors such as smart city, public safety, transportation, healthcare, and urban planning.

Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President, Azure for Operators said, “Singapore is on the forefront of innovation as its enterprises and public sector embrace new technologies like 5G, AI, and security for its future. Our deep ecosystem collaboration with Singtel provides a unified compute solution from the cloud to the edge that will help organizations and developers build more Singapore-born innovation, as we empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”

By providing enterprises with fast, reliable, and secure connectivity, Azure public MEC enables data processing and storage to be moved closer to end-users, reducing latency and enhancing overall network performance. This will unlock new opportunities for customers to build and manage end-to-end use cases like digital twins, distributed compute video analytics solution and LLM.

One of first commercial customer use case and 5G-enabled solutions for enterprise trials

The NUHS’ Holomedicine programme will be one of the first commercial use cases to draw on the Azure public MEC technology with augmented reality for the healthcare sector. Singtel's high-speed connectivity and low latency 5G network enables high-resolution images to be sent to Microsoft HoloLens, a mixed reality headset that is designed to help solve real business problems using intelligent apps. This technology will help surgeons to better visualise a patient's organs in high-resolution 3D render without any disruption or lag.

The success of this trial demonstrates how doctors from NUHS can streamline the planning of surgical operations, improve patient education and safety, and create a more intuitive and immersive environment for surgical training and research with 5G.

Singtel also revealed three other solutions from local software partners, NVIDIA, Hiverlab and Quantiphi, that demonstrate the application of 5G and Azure Public MEC to run advanced technology like augmented reality, AI, digital twins and more.