In this model, a fine-grained edgecloud mesh of small to medium sites sits close to users, data, and physical systems, mediating connectivity before anything reaches large centralized providers. Instead of trying to regulate hyperscalers directly, policy, security, and operational constraints could be enforced architecturally at this first hop.

A common objection is that a wide edge mesh increases the attack surface. I’m not convinced that translates to higher real-world risk. When failures or breaches happen at the edge, the blast radius is local: data loss and service disruption stay contained. When a hyperscaler fails or is breached, the impact is global.

We already see signals in this direction (e.g. NVIDIA–Nokia, AWS–Ericsson). The open question is whether the edge becomes just another hyperscaler-controlled layer, or whether a more federated ecosystem — built by many operators and vendors — can realistically deliver better resilience, security, and innovation.

From a systems or operational perspective: does a federated edgecloud mesh actually rebalance risk and control, or do coordination and complexity costs dominate in practice?