DISH Wireless is the latest major 5G provider in America and it has big plans for its 5G network. While major wireless carriers are focusing on their subscriber count, DISH Wireless is taking a hard focus on the business side of things, due in part to its lack of current client base from consumers. A big part of this focus revolves around network slicing to provide an innovative solution for entities looking to connect on their own privatized 5G network.
Network slicing is one of the many innovations that is taking the 5G world by storm and DISH Wireless is using it like no other. Oracle is going to help DISH with its 5G core slicing by helping DISH Wireless provide a service-based architecture (SBA) for its 5G network that includes control plane network functions. Oracle’s Group VP of Technology, Andrew De La Torre spoke on the move into 5G saying, “We’re kind of quietly doing a lot of business already on 5G out there with major tier one’s around the world.”
By using network slicing in its 5G network, DISH Wireless will be able to offer customized solutions for personal networks for an array of industries. DISH Wireless will provide 5G network slices that are built for a specific purpose allowing for better productivity, fewer disruptions, and an additional revenue stream for DISH. Entities that are looking for their own network can purchase a private 5G network from DISH Wireless through its dynamic pricing model that will provide real-time pricing to its customers.
Because DISH Wireless is using Open RAN and cloud-native approaches to building its network, it’s allowing the satellite-TV turned wireless provider to secure unique partnerships such as this collaboration between DISH and Oracle. “Our decision was to take a best in breed approach to be very focused on trying to create products that stand out in the market from a capability perspective but to wrap that all in something that was really embedded in cloud principles and that cloud ecosystem,” said De La Torre.
Oracle joining after a massive partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues the great run of notable vendors DISH Wireless is collaborating with for its build-out. Much like AWS, Oracle is a far-reaching company with experience in many different verticals and capable of providing a wide range of telecom solutions. This is unique because not many companies are capable of providing this scale of telecom solutions as well as cloud-based solutions.
Control plane components of the 5G core are the highlight of this partnership with De La Torre referring to the 5G core as “the brains”. The 5G core will boast of different network functions including Network Exposure Function (NEF), Network Repository Function (NRF), and Policy Control (PCF), which will all assist in DISH Wireless reaching its goal of offering thousands of network slices to its customers.
As we’ve mentioned, DISH Wireless doesn’t have subscribers. It does have to balance its 5G network buildout by supporting its subscriber base under the Boost Mobile brand, but as for now, DISH Wireless doesn’t have any subscribers. This is intriguing to Oracle who considers this factor to be an advantage for DISH Wireless even as others continue to push into the enterprise space and will be watching DISH to see its success or failure with network slicing. “We think it’s going to be key for DISH because ultimately their whole business is enterprise-centric and they don’t have a large consumer base to lean back on if it doesn’t work out for them. So it’s going to be more important for these guys than anybody else to have a really powerful slicing solution,” said De La Torre.
A major beneficiary of network slicing is going to be the Internet of Things (IoT). 5G is allowing machines to communicate like never before and the IoT is ready to revolutionize everything from manufacturing to driving and anything else you can imagine. Enterprises that are capable of using IoT can take advantage of network slicing by setting up individual 5G networks for specific functions. Other wireless providers know this and continue to work more and more in the enterprise landscape. The international market for 5G network slicing will reach nearly $18 billion by the year 2030 even with the delays incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Fierce Wireless