DISH Network has selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider and will construct its 5G network on AWS, 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. According to the company, 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.

Given this marks the first time that a 5G network will be run in the cloud, DISH will achieve cost-effective operations while seeking to redefine the practical applications of 5G. 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.

DISH will leverage AWS’s 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.

To support real-time workloads at the network edge and quickly process inbound and outbound data from its O-RAN infrastructure, DISH will leverage AWS Local Zones and AWS Outposts.