MEC Questions & Answers

General questions

Q1: What does MEC acronym stand for?

A1: At the initial creation of Industry Specification Group (ISG) MEC in 2014, the acronym meant Mobile Edge Computing. Since MEC Phase 2 work (2017 onwards) this was expanded to Multi-access Edge Computing, to include not only cellular networks but also other access networks (e.g., WLAN, fixed access networks). MEC is access network agnostic and can be deployed on various networks for which specific supports may be needed for the full exploitation of these access networks.

Q2: What makes ETSI MEC unique?

A2: ETSI MEC focuses on the standardization of the necessary APIs to enable application and service providers to utilize computing capabilities present at the edge of the network (e.g. 3GPP 3G/4G/5G networks, WLAN, fixed access networks), thus bringing edge computing as close as possible to the end users without it being in the user devices. This is critical in establishing a unified and truly scalable and inter-operable edge computing eco-system. ETSI MEC specifies the essential elements that are required to enable applications to be hosted in a multi-vendor multi-access edge computing environment, ensuring service continuity and assisting seamless application layer mobility, both intra- and inter-MEC.