Dish gets Amazon on board to build 5G network, to launch in Las Vegas

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Dish Network receiver hangs on a house in Somerville

By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Dish Network on Wednesday signed a deal with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) to build its 5G network on Amazon Web Services' (AWS) cloud platform and said it will launch its first network in the United States in Las Vegas later this year.

Dish, racing to build a 5G network in the United States by 2023, has chosen a new technology called Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) that uses software to run network functions on the cloud, reducing the use of physical equipment.

As part of the collaboration, Dish and Amazon will help develop 5G applications, such as low-latency augmented reality gaming experiences, serve contextual advertising, or orchestrate the movements of a robot at a disaster site.

"We have exposed our ambition and our technology to a number of enterprise customers and we are in deep discussions," Dish Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne said in an interview.

AWS Vice President David Brown said the partners had discussed working together for around 18 months ahead of the deal signed on Wednesday.

It is not exclusive and AWS has an existing https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/industries/verizon-and-aws-deliver-mobile-edge-computing-to-customers-in-boston-and-the-bay-area partnership with telecom operator Verizon (NYSE:VZ).

"If AWS and Dish were to partner on going after the enterprise opportunity together – leveraging Dish's network and AWS' enterprise services infrastructure and sales force – that would be exciting," Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at New Street Research, said.

Dish, with its new network built on the latest technologies, could become a threat to traditional telecom operators, such as Verizon and AT&T (NYSE:T).

"They will have a lower cost than Verizon and so will be able to undercut on price," Chaplin said.

Rouanne said Dish is on track to reach its goal of covering 20% of the U.S. population by June next year, and at least 70% of the population by mid-2023, as part of its commitments to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.