While many within the wireless industry continue to oppose a nationalized 5G network and the inquiries by the Department of Defense (DoD), DISH Wireless is seizing the opportunity and providing a network slice for its domestic operations. DISH Wireless is becoming the nation’s fourth major wireless provider by creating a state-of-the-art 5G network from the ground up. By positioning itself and its innovative O-RAN compliant 5G network as a solution for the DoD’s use, the network possibilities that DISH Wireless will provide will surpass other capabilities and push wireless as a whole.
“This next-generation network effectively enables the DoD to manage and control a slice of Dish’s network, together with specific spectrum resources, while reducing the cost and accelerating the availability of secure 5G services for the exclusive use of the DoD,” said DISH Wireless in a statement. “This network can take advantage of dedicated DoD spectrum, commercial spectrum, and shared spectrum.”
The move could help satisfy the DoD’s needs and reduce the desire for a nationalized 5G project. DISH has been vocal about its opposition to the DoD’s nationalized 5G network proposal and believes that providing a network slice would be a win-win situation for both parties and the wireless industry as a whole. Sharing the assets and resources will still benefit the DoD and will fit into DISH Wireless and its overall business model.
Many different aspects will make DISH Wireless and its 5G network innovative and unique. One of these concepts revolves around network slicing and dynamic pricing. Using Matrixx Software as a vendor, DISH Wireless will be capable of selling slices of its network for a specific use that varies by the entity. The software will provide a way for DISH Wireless to sell these network slices with real-time pricing. This will also allow the DoD to manage its different networks through policies and provide the foundation for autonomy.
“Private DoD dedicated network slices represent an end-to-end solution that can be used to guarantee a level of service. While there are many flavors of network slicing, the ability to guarantee a level of service through a slice specific Service Level Agreement (SLA) is only possible through the cloud-native, standalone 5G network architecture Dish is deploying,” said DISH. “Each DoD network slice could have its own performance characteristics along with an associated SLA, that can be securely managed by the DoD. Separate networks do not have to be constructed to support each network slice, thereby making this a scalable and cost-effective solution.”
Overall, it remains to be seen how the DoD will take to this type of agreement, but it is beginning to look as if a shift is occurring. The Pentagon is looking to forgo a nationalized 5G network and is looking into owning and operating a 5G network throughout military bases instead. With tens of billions of dollars already invested and more to come, DISH Wireless will continue to work toward finding solutions for entities such as the DoD to generate revenue. The satellite television giant turned wireless carrier is looking far beyond simply providing consumers with cell phone coverage and is expected to be a major player in the fixed wireless landscape.
Source: Fierce Wireless