DISH and Amazon Form Strategic 5G Collaboration

 Yesterday, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, announced that DISH Network Corporation selected it as the preferred cloud provider and will construct its 5G network leveraging AWS. The move 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.

According to Jonathan Chaplin at New Street Research, DISH has been active in securing partners for their network build over the past year, but had yet to sign a commercial partner. “Amazon represents the first commercial partner for DISH,” Chaplin said, “which will undoubtedly help them scale up usage across their network as they market new products and services to consumers and enterprises.”
 
DISH claims it’s deploying the first standalone, cloud-based 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) in the United States, beginning with Las Vegas later this year. The company said it plans on connecting all of its hardware and network management resources through Amazon’s cloud to enable secure, rapid scaling and innovation as well as on-demand responsiveness to customers’ wireless needs. As DISH deploys its network, the company is partnering exclusively with vendors offering cloud-native technology, bringing them together on AWS to provide DISH customers greater flexibility and control of their 5G-enabled solutions. Continue Reading