DISH chooses Nokia to build US 5G network

The deal follows months of joint testing as Nokia and DISH proved their respective “any cloud” capabilities in multiple cloud environments, along with Nokia’s ability to integrate and deliver a fully cloud-native, containerized, end-to-end solution.

The agreement includes subscriber data management, device management, packet core, voice and data core, as well as integration services. Nokia will also deliver additional cloud-native products that will provide 4G, 5G standalone and Voice over Wi-Fi access to core network functions.

These products will provide DISH the speed, agility, intelligence, and security to deliver new 5G-era services, while cost-effectively managing its network with near zero-touch automation and adherence to Service Level Agreements.

Nokia leads the market in core network deployments, with 25 of the top 40 communication service providers relying on Nokia Core network products.

Marc Rouanne, DISH Chief Network Officer, said: “This is an important step in bringing to life DISH’s plans to deliver the first open, agile, virtualized 5G network in the U.S. Nokia’s new release is cloud-native, standalone and ready for full automation, providing DISH the software capabilities required to deliver thousands of network slices with low latency and SLA on demand.”

Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Nokia Chief Digital Officer, said: “The benefits of Nokia’s industry-leading, cloud-native standalone 5G Core products built on our proven Common Software Foundation — near-zero-touch automation capabilities, high-level operational efficiencies, scale and performance – continue to set us apart from the competition. DISH has great ambition and we are both excited and laser-focused on helping them deliver on that.”
CT Bureau