T-Mobile Partners with Lumen. One Reason? Enormous IP Portfolio

Lumen (formerly known as CenturyLink) has struck a partnership with T-Mobile to offer edge computing services over T-Mobile’s 5G Network. This partnership follows deals with cloud providers like Google and Amazon who have also paired with Lumen on their edge technology. Lumen also stated an interest in finding other partners in the space to continue expanding the opportunities for the fledgling edge computing service.

This move into the space was very likely due to the patent activity in the space by CenturyLink (now Lumen). They have been active in the communications category of edge computing for over ten years and have had the second most patent assets (31)  in the category over the past five years. Only Cisco leads them in the category. Lumen unveiled a roadmap to offer edge computing service back in August of 2019, but the patent activity indicated their strong interest in the industry long before that roadmap was announced.

It will be worth watching Lumen to see what other partnerships they make and if they can surpass Cisco in the communication category of edge computing. To keep an eye on Lumen’s future moves in the space and watch out for companies seeking to create partnerships, check out the Edge Computing Patent Forecast®!