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Amazon partners with South Korean 5G provider SK to deliver edge-based Wavelength services.

This week Amazon Web Services announced the general availability of AWS Wavelength on SK Telecom (SKT)’s 5G network. The partnership aims to help developers to build ultra-low latency applications for mobile devices and users throughout South Korea.  

AWS first announced AWS Wavelength at AWS re:Invent 2019. In August, the company then unveiled their first two Wavelength Zones, in Boston and San Francisco. This latest partnership marks its first deployment in Asia.

Wavelength delivers compute and storage to the 5G edge

Wavelength embeds AWS compute and storage services at the edge of communications service providers’ 5G networks. This also provides “seamless” access to cloud services running in an AWS Region, according to Amazon.

This minimizes the latency and network hops required to connect from a 5G device to an application hosted on AWS. With AWS Wavelength and SKT 5G, application developers can now build the ultra-low latency applications, they say.

Developers need such applications for use cases like smart factories, interactive live streaming, autonomous vehicles, connected hospitals. They can also use them for augmented and virtual reality-enhanced experiences.  

Unveiled: the first South Korean Wavelength customers

Amazon says its initial customers for AWS Wavelength in South Korea include Ubitus, DeepFine, Gooroomee, Woowa Brothers, and Looxid Labs.

Ubitus uses GPU-based instances on AWS Wavelength to render and stream game titles to end-users with ultra-low latency. This enables real-time interaction and a continuous game experience.

DeepFine uses 5G connected AR glasses for more efficient, accurate maintenance of public assets. Such assets include roads, cell towers, fire hydrants, and water reservoirs, and overall public safety.

Gooroomee uses the low-latency benefits of the service to provide video conferencing services for remote collaboration on creation. Examples are live events are plays and other performing arts.

Woowa Brothers uses SKT’s 5G network and Wavelength for their popular Baedal Minjok service. This is the first public use of food delivery robots in South Korea.

Looxid Labs uses 5G and AWS Wavelength for their biometric-based user analytic system to gather data and assess cognitive function in the elderly.

AWS will bill customers for their EC2 instances on an On-Demand basis, according to the company. Customers can also purchase an Instance Savings Plan.

AWS launched Wavelengthwith support for t3 (medium and xlarge), r5 (2xlarge), and g4 (2xlarge) instances, they said.

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