- Broadcom's new VeloSky appliance integrates enterprise fiber, cellular and satellite connectivity
- VeloSky is designed to help operators recoup their investments in 5G and satellite
- The appliance targets enterprise needs for new network architecture to feed AI applications
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, BARCELONA — Broadcom aims to help carriers hunt elusive returns from expensive 5G and satellite investments. The company launched VeloSky, an appliance integrating fiber, cellular and satellite connectivity to help operators unlock new revenue streams and diversify their business models.
"VeloSky offers service providers the tools they need to streamline operations and enhance connectivity," the company said in a statement. "It lets providers address enterprise demands for secure, scalable and reliable solutions and empowers them to remain competitive and innovative in today’s evolving digital landscape."
Enterprises rely on multiple wireless and wireline networks to deliver the global connectivity they need. But when it comes time to converge those networks — make them all work together to deliver data where it's needed — enterprises do the work manually, one access point at a time. VeloSky is designed to automate that process, providing a single link for multiple network types, and centralize operator billing, Sanjay Uppal, VP and general manager of Broadcom's VeloCloud Division, said in a briefing with analysts and press.
VeloSky is designed to help operators meet enterprise requirements for low-latency, high-bandwidth and secure networking to support a new generation of applications.
The shift to new AI applications is at least as significant as the shift to cloud-based applications in the early 2000s, Uppal said. Cloud applications drove massive changes to network architecture and led to the development of SD-WAN to meet those needs. Uppal was in the middle of that trend as CEO and co-founder of SD-WAN pioneer VeloCloud, which VMware acquired in 2017. VMware was, in turn, acquired by Broadcom in November 2023.
Today's AI applications are "dramatically different" from cloud applications, Uppal said. AI data is multimodal, requiring high bandwidth, low latency, and much higher upstream capacity than downstream. AI applications require extensive uploads and smaller downloads, whereas for conventional cloud applications, downloads are much larger than uploads.
For a more in-depth look at the drastically changed network requirements of AI applications, see Fierce Network Research's report, coming within days: "Redefining Connectivity for AI-Driven Enterprises."
On Broadcom's press and analyst call, Dell'Oro analyst Mauricio Sanchez asked how VeloSky differentiates from competing products from Ericsson and Fortinet. Uppal replied that VeloSky manages traffic on an application basis, looking at application requirements rather than network metrics. VeloSky also provides tighter convergence than competitors.
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