Dish Network intends to run Nokia’s 5G standalone (SA) core software on Amazon Web Services (AWS), making it one of the first operator’s to deploy its network core in a public cloud.
The satellite TV company plans to deploy its 5G open radio access network (RAN) in Las Vegas this fall, and a 5G SA core is a critical component of that effort. Dish last year landed a deal with Nokia to use its 5G SA core software and more recently inked a broad agreement with AWS to house everything it can on the world’s largest public cloud.
More than 30 vendors are involved in Dish’s 5G network deployment plan, and as the operator gets closer to actually deploying a cloud-native 5G service for commercial use, it’s connecting the dots, explaining where these various technologies will reside and how they will interact.
Executives from Dish and Nokia are scheduled to share more details about this 5G SA core running on AWS during a session at MWC Barcelona later this month. The operator and vendor are working together to implement zero-touch automation, and develop new services for Dish customers, according to the description for the session.
Dish claims many firsts because of its strict adherence to a cloud native open RAN architecture, however nothing is active yet. It might be the first operator with a 5G core running in a public cloud, but Telefónica is just as likely to beat it to that goal. Both operators have selected AWS as the public cloud of choice for their 5G cores.
Telefónica last month said it validated AWS Outposts as an “effective infrastructure option” for Vivo Brazil’s 5G SA core. The multinational operator, which is based in Spain, is also using Nokia’s 5G core software with an assist from Mavenir and Oracle.
While neither is commercially deployed, Dish and Telefónica “appear to be the first out of the gate” with 5G cores running on a public cloud, according to Will Townsend, senior analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.
Will Other Operators Follow Dish’s Cloudified Core Example?
“It’s at least the first large-scale deployment,” said Daryl Schoolar, Omdia’s fixed and mobile infrastructure practice leader.
“If successful, if it goes well, you could see other operators start to move more workloads out there,” he said, adding that Dish’s status as a greenfield operator affords it a lot of flexibility and significantly less complexity compared to existing operators that have to maintain legacy workloads and systems. “They need to be successful on this probably before you can do a brownfield one,” he said.
“The significance to me is this at least gives everybody something to look at,” Scholar said. “Can you run a really heavy eventual workload in a public cloud environment versus running it in your own private cloud?”
Nokia’s 5G core software is also baked into T-Mobile US’ 5G SA core network that it activated in August 2020, but no public clouds are involved in that deployment. Nokia claims 25 of the top 40 communications service providers are using its network core products.
Dish previously said Nokia will provide multiple services and network functions for its 5G core, including subscriber data management, device management, packet core, voice and data core, and integration services.
Dish and Nokia did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
While Nokia is playing a central role in Dish’s 5G core, it’s not the only vendor involved. Dish is also sourcing multiple pieces of Intel hardware and its FlexRAN software reference architecture to power its core.
Intel Xeon Processors Power Dish’s 5G Core in AWS
Intel is supplying Dish with Xeon Scalable Processors that other vendors will package into commercial off-the-shelf servers. Intel is partnering with Dish “at the entire network level, working with them on their core network offering, their access to the RAN offering, as well as the edge offering,” Dan Rodriguez, VP and GM of Intel’s Network Platforms group, told SDxCentral in a phone interview.
“We’re really excited that their core network will be powered by Xeon,” he said. “Some of these instances of their core network will actually be running in the cloud, but in those instances they will be running on Xeon Scalable Processors.”
Intel’s work with Dish could decline in a couple years, however. Dish EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne has consistently framed the agreement with Intel as short-term, something it will rely on heavily through 2022 but perhaps not much beyond that.
For the first phase of Dish’s network buildout during the next 18-24 months, “we’re going to leverage heavily a lot of the equipment powered by Intel, the x86 or accelerator cards for our radios and our core,” he told SDxCentral in late 2020, adding that the vast majority of servers it owns will be based on Intel technology for the next couple years.
The operator is also working with other chip vendors, and hopes to add them to the mix down the line.
AWS Stands Alone in 5G Cloud Momentum
The aspiring greenfield operator’s decision to put its 5G core on AWS is no surprise considering the expansive agreement reached between both companies.
AWS is an outlier in the telco cloud space. The cloud presents mobile network operators with a matrix of choices, and AWS is almost always in the mix.
“I think we’re going to be their largest customer in cloud, and I think they may be the largest customer in our network,” Charlie Ergen, Dish’s co-founder and chairman, said last month during the company’s earnings call.
“Everything north of the base station, the site, is in the cloud,” Rouanne said during the call.
Moving 5G cores to public clouds is a watershed moment for the wireless industry, and multiple vendors are readying for what’s expected to be a broader transition to cloud-based network cores. Other companies, particularly India’s Reliance Jio, will also take note of Dish and Telefónica’s efforts here, Townsend said.
He also pointed to recent announcements from Dell Technologies to further underline the industry-wide momentum underway. Dish also this month said it will use Dell hardware and software to deploy container network functions, and jointly develop private 5G networks, software-defined WAN, and multi-access edge cloud platforms.
Operators and vendors haven’t shared many details about the technical challenges that have to be addressed before a 5G operator can activate a 5G core in a public cloud, but “integration will be challenging given the disaggregated nature of these scenarios,” Townsend explained.
Proponents of this vision, of course, claim the benefits will quickly outweigh any technical problems. “Time will tell but cloudification of core could provide some advantages from a scale and agility perspective, and also speed the deployment of new 5G services,” Townsend said.
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June 19, 2021 at 05:00PM
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Dish Pushes Nokia 5G Core to AWS - SDxCentral
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