Without the support of next-generation transport and distributed computing platforms, the full potential of 5G will not be realized.

That's why Light Reading is hosting its third 5G Transport & the Edge event on October 10 in midtown New York, where industry experts from the network operator, vendor and analyst communities will look at what's coming next in the transport network for 5G and at the key developments in network edge computing.

And for the first time, there are a number of live 5G networks -- in the US, South Korea and a number of European markets -- to use as reference cases. "The 5G networks that are now live are a great opportunity to verify 5G technology in the real-world world," comments Gabriel Brown, principal analyst, mobile networks & 5G at Heavy Reading and one of the event's moderators.

"We're still early in the cycle and we expect great progress in the next three years as operators continue the buildout and phase in standalone 5G and associated service types," he added.

The event will feature insight on the newest aspects of 5G networking, including the forthcoming standalone 5G standard. "At this year's event we'll revisit the themes of RAN architecture, X-Haul and small cells, and look ahead at challenges such as migration to 5G SA, the introduction of URLLC [ultra-reliable low-latency communication] capabilities, and the integration of edge cloud with the aggregation network," Brown continues. "We also have dedicated sessions on Layer 2-3 packet network evolution and synchronization."

Glenn Wellbrook, director, optical transport network, architecture, design and planning at Verizon, will lead off with a morning keynote at the event.

Other speakers at the event will include: