As mobile networks continue to evolve to meet increasing demands for low latency, high throughput and scalable infrastructure, the flexible deployment of network functions has become a key tool for enabling the required levels of service. One of the transformative technologies in this space is the Virtualised Packet Gateway, especially when offered as a service. This model combines the technical agility of virtualisation with the strategic advantages of edge deployment, enabling mobile network operators (MNOs) to deliver enhanced performance, reduce costs, and achieve greater operational efficiency.
What is a Virtualised Packet Gateway?
A Packet Gateway (P-GW), also known as a PGW, is a critical component in mobile core networks, traditionally part of the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) in LTE networks and now evolving as part of the 5G Core (5GC). It acts as the interface between the mobile network and external IP networks, managing subscriber sessions, IP address allocation, and Quality of Service (QoS).
A virtualised P-GW abstracts hardware dependencies, allowing it to run on commodity servers or cloud infrastructure. The deployment of virtualised edge P-GWs to support multi-country IoT deployments allows for local breakout and can both reduce the distance that data must travel and improve performance. Offering this infrastructure as a service means that operators or enterprises can consume it on-demand, with the P-GW managed by third parties or platform providers, without needing to invest in and maintain physical infrastructure.
The flexibility that a virtualised edge P-GW proposition can offer is particularly relevant in the context of multi-country IoT deployments, where the volume of devices hosted on individual international partner networks, and the traffic associated with these devices, may vary widely. Effectively, an edge P-GW as-as-service approach allows for consistent services to be deployed globally and supported by multiple MNOs, with capacity scaling so that the P-GW solution can cater cost effectively for both high-volume and low-volume partner network scenarios. From the perspective of a partner network operator, meanwhile, the same virtualised agility means that multiple P-GWs can be supported as part of their commercial relationships with different overseas MNOs or MVNOs, or even device OEMs or service providers.
Key Benefits of Virtualised Edge Packet Gateways as a Service
Historically, much of the IoT market has relied on roaming from sometimes distant sponsor operators to support multi-country solutions, but this is not an optimal scenario. There are numerous benefits associated with a virtualised edge P-GW approach for supporting multi-country cellular IoT deployments. In the following sections we focus on benefits related to latency, efficiency, regulatory compliance, scalability and more.
Reduced Latency
Latency is critical for emerging applications such as augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, and a range of industrial automation applications. By moving the P-GW function closer to the user via edge deployment, a virtualised edge P-GW can drastically reduce round-trip delays. Many IoT applications are latency-sensitive, and for these applications enhanced latency performance directly translates to improved user experience and better performance overall.
Improved Efficiency
A centralised P-GW hosted by a single lead MNO can lead to congestion, particularly as data volumes grow. Virtualised distributed edge P-GWs help better share the traffic load by enabling local breakout and routing of traffic locally rather than backhauling it to a single central location. This localised handling of traffic improves the efficiency of interconnect links between networks and reduces transit costs, while enhancing service quality.
Regulatory compliance
Compliance with data sovereignty and other regulations that stipulate that data sourced in a particular territory must remain in that territory is a closely related benefit. As the IoT market matures and regulations tighten, traditional approaches to multi-national cellular deployment based on roaming are likely to become challenged. By enabling local break-out, virtualised edge P-GW approaches are a critical ingredient to ensure that data that originates on a specific MNO’s in-country network remains in that country, and so that data sovereignty related regulations are complied with.
Scalability
Virtualisation inherently enables dynamic resource allocation and when delivered as a service, a virtualised edge P-GW can scale based on real-time network demand. For MNOs, or any service provider offering a service enabled by cellular IoT, this means being able to scale up resources during peak traffic hours or scale down during quieter times without the need for manual intervention or over-provisioning.
This kind of elastic scaling improves resource utilisation, lowers capital expenditure and associated risk, and ensures that operators only pay for what they use, mirroring the cost benefits of cloud-native business models.
Other benefits
Virtualised edge P-GWs as a service can be deployed relatively quickly, better allowing MNOs to launch new services, or potentially to offer new QoS commitments for existing services, and to better serve niche or even application-specific requirements. This can be particularly important with the transition to 5G, which brings with it new challenges and opportunities, particularly those associated with high-bandwidth applications that require high levels of network performance, and including network slicing techniques. Virtualised edge P-GWs are well-suited to support these requirements because they can be tailored to specific slices, or even applications, with unique QoS policies.
When managed by a third-party service provider, virtualised edge P-GWs can benefit from automation and orchestration capabilities including automatic capacity scaling, centralised monitoring and analytics and policy-driven configuration and updates applied consistently across an estate of edge P-GWs distributed around the world.
When deployed alongside a distributed core network for IoT, edge P-GWs can host IMSI ranges from a patchwork of local operators, all managed consistently and centrally so that the patchwork becomes a coherent global service.
Virtualised P-GWs, especially when deployed at the network edge and offered as a service, enable mobile network operators to meet growing demands for low latency, scalability, and cost-efficiency particularly for multi-country IoT deployments. These gateways abstract hardware dependencies and can run on cloud infrastructure, allowing for flexible, on-demand deployment across multiple regions. Benefits include reduced latency through local data breakout, improved traffic efficiency, compliance with data sovereignty regulations, and dynamic scalability. A virtualised edge P-GW approach can efficiently support diverse use cases, especially in 5G and IoT, by enabling tailored performance, faster service rollout, and simplified operations via automation and orchestration managed by third-party providers.
Join Transforma Insights, Stacuity, and selected special guests for a panel discussion and to hear more about virtualised edge P-GW propositions on 11 September, 2025.
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