Verizon’s $40m 9.9% stake in Casa Systems – coinciding with a six-year MEC (Multi-access Edge Compute) purchase and development deal worth up to $140m, depending on future success – is significant on several levels. For Verizon it is a substantial direct bet on a MEC provider, aiming to avoid over-dependence on the three big hyperscalers, with whom it has partnerships for various aspects of 5G edge cloud services. It also matches the commitments to MEC already evident among some Tier 1 operators outside the USA, such as Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange, noting though that DT owns a majority of Verizon’s rival T-Mobile USA with a 64.78% stake. Verizon’s moves are far more momentous for Casa Systems, representing a…