Amazon, Dish to launch cloud-based 5G network in Las Vegas

Amazon Web Services Inc. and Dish Network Corp. are teaming up to build a 5G network that will kick off its nationwide launch in Las Vegas later this year.

Dish will build the network on AWS, a cloud platform owned by Amazon.com Inc. This will be the first time a 5G network is run in the cloud, according to a Wednesday news release, and should allow a “cost-effective performance.”

Through the agreement, both companies aim to transform how organizations and customers order and consume 5G services or create their own private 5G networks. The collaboration should also help the development of new 5G applications, whether that’s controlling a robot at a disaster site or offering low-latency augmented reality games.

Dish’s 5G network will have to play catch-up with a number of other 5G networks in Las Vegas. Two major carriers — T-Mobile and AT&T — launched 5G coverage in Las Vegas in early December 2019. Competitor Verizon launched its 5G Ultra Wideband service in parts of Las Vegas in October, according to a news release.

Dish recently became a nationwide wireless carrier after acquiring Boost Mobile in 2020; this collaboration is the company’s latest step to compete as the fourth wireless carrier in the U.S., along with T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T. In its latest annual report, Dish said all three competitors were “significantly larger” and enjoy “scale advantages” compared to Dish.

“Our approach will revolutionize wireless connectivity by giving customers the ability to customize and scale their network experience on-demand,” Dish co-founder and chairman Charlie Ergen said in the release. “As a new carrier, leveraging AWS and its extensive network of partners enables us to differentiate ourselves by operating our 5G network with a high degree of automation, utilizing the talent of AWS-trained developers and helping our customers bring new 5G applications to market faster than ever before.”

AWS CEO Andy Jassy added that the agreement will allow Dish and its customers to bring new services to the market “as quickly as they’re created.”

“Together, we’re opening the door to new technologies that will transform factories, workplaces, entertainment, and transportation in ways people have only dreamed,” he said in the release.

Dish’s shares closed up 11 percent Wednesday at $40.94 on the Nasdaq. Shares for Amazon.com Inc., AWS’s parent company, shares closed up 0.8 percent to $3,362.02 on the Nasdaq.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.