Nokia revealed it will deploy a standalone 5G core network for Dish Network in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud, a move the US newcomer’s chief network officer Marc Rouanne claimed was a key step in its deployment.

Dish Network selected Nokia as its 5G core supplier in September 2020 and tapped AWS as the public cloud host for the network earlier this year.

Nokia asserted the collaboration is the world’s first deployment of 5G in the public cloud.

Raghav Sahgal, president, Cloud and Network Services at the company, stated the move placed AWS and Dish Network “at the forefront of the industry”.

Nokia is providing voice, cloud packet, subscriber data management, device management and its NetGuard security system covering network slices. The vendor stated these systems will enable “near zero-touch automation” to help lower network management costs for Dish.

Rouanne explained running the Nokia core in the AWS cloud will enable the company to “launch new software and services rapidly and efficiently”.

The collaboration between the three companies is “an important step forward” for Dish Network’s cloud-native, open RAN-based network, he added.

Nokia and AWS detailed a partnership in March covering testing of the vendor’s virtualised 5G baseband units with AWS Outposts and Local Zones.