Two weeks ago I had the pleasure to attend the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. A pleasure not only because a German guy won the race; my real excitement, in fact, came from the world’s largest deployment of Mobile Edge Computing in a live network to date.

China Mobile and Nokia, at the Shanghai International Circuit, deployed an ultra-dense network of small cells and several MEC servers for providing a 5G-like mobile broadband experience. Spectators could follow the race from different in-car, trackside, and airborne camera perspectives and dashboards, all delivered in real time into an intuitive-to-use app. MEC made a huge difference in video latency and quality, which was testified by a user survey indicating high satisfaction and willingness to pay.