Intel and Google Cloud have announced a partnership that will see the two firms develop integrated services for network providers to develop 5G innovations across various platforms.

The collaboration is another step towards Intel’s goal to develop 5G networks with software-defined infrastructures and further evidence of Google Cloud’s ambitions in the 5G arena.

Telecom-based cloud architectures and integrated services from both Intel and Google Ccloud will help to accelerate scalable network and edge deployments, particularly with multi-cloud architectures. These are thought to be critical in achieving the full potential of 5G, edge computing and AI across many industries, such as manufacturing, retail and healthcare.

The partnership will focus on three areas, the first of which will be to aid the acceleration of Virtualised RAN (vRAN) and Open Radio Access Networks (ORAN) with infrastructure and hardware support. There will also be a Network Functions Validation lab to support vendors in testing, optimising, and validating their core network functions that run on Google Cloud’s Anthos for Telecom platform. The lab environment will also expand to help customers conceive, plan, and validate their 5G and edge application strategies.

The partnership also includes edge services developed with Intel’s compute-optimisation technology and blueprints to accelerate edge transformation in certain industries.

“The next wave of network transformation is fueled by 5G and is driving a rapid transition to cloud-native technologies,” said Dan Rodriguez, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the network platforms group.

“As communications service providers build out their 5G network infrastructure, our efforts with Google Cloud and the broader ecosystem will help them deliver agile, scalable solutions for emerging 5G and edge use cases.”

Google Cloud has been very active in this space. The firm recently announced an initiative to deliver more than 200 partner applications to the edge via its network and 5G service.