ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors begin by examining the kinds of actors that would be over-the-top (OTT) players from a communication services provider (CSP) perspective. They discuss various ways in which the OTT actors may approach the multi-access edge computing (MEC) marketplace and the reasons to choose one approach over another. The authors focus on the edge hosting/co-location and edge XaaS, and examine the advantages and drawbacks of each of these MEC models for the three types of OTT players we have identified. They deal with the edge hosting/co-location approach. In this business model, the OTT actor brings its own full solution, including the necessary hardware infrastructure, to the MEC site. In the XaaS model, the CSP owns and manages the cloud infrastructure across its MEC locations and offers this infrastructure as a service to the various OTT providers. Because the physical infrastructure is owned by the CSP, the CSP is responsible for the operation and maintenance of this infrastructure.
