DISH Network on Wednesday announced that it has selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider and will construct its 5G network on AWS.
This is part of a strategic collaboration agreement under which both companies will work to transform how organizations and customers, including AWS and Amazon, order and consume 5G services or create their own private 5G networks.
DISH is deploying the first standalone, cloud-based 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) in the United States, beginning with Las Vegas later this year. DISH will connect all of its hardware and network management resources through the world’s leading cloud to enable secure, rapid scaling and innovation as well as on-demand responsiveness to customers’ wireless needs.
DISH will leverage AWS’s proven infrastructure and breadth of services to deploy a cloud-native 5G network that incorporates O-RAN – the antennas and base stations that link phones and other wireless devices to the network – and the 5G Core – the logical architecture that directs traffic flow within the network. AWS will also power DISH’s fully automated Operation and Business Support Systems (OSS and BSS) that will enable the company to provision and operate its customers’ 5G workloads and monetize its network.
By building its network on AWS, DISH is also simplifying the process for developers to create new 5G applications. DISH developers and customers, as well as the AWS developer community, will be able to create innovative 5G solutions across a variety of industries by leveraging standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) to engage with data on DISH network attributes such as user equipment latency, bit rate, quality of service, and equipment location.
Developers can then leverage AWS services and partner capabilities in machine learning, analytics, security, and more to create responsive solutions that use that data. For instance, they could offer low-latency augmented reality gaming experiences optimized for the user’s device, serve contextual advertising, or orchestrate the movements of a robot at a disaster site.
Charlie Ergen, DISH Co-founder and Chairman
Through this collaboration with AWS, we will operate not just as a communications services provider, but as a digital services provider harnessing the combined power of 5G connectivity and the cloud.
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services
DISH’s cloud-native and truly virtualized 5G network is a clear example of how AWS customers can use our proven infrastructure and unparalleled portfolio of services to reinvent industries.
