US satellite TV giant DISH Network has selected Nokia to deploy its standalone core software products as part of its planned cloud-native 5G network. The deal follows months of joint testing as Nokia and DISH established ‘any cloud’ capabilities in multiple cloud environments. Marc Rouanne, DISH’s chief network officer, noted that the deployment will give DISH ‘the software capabilities required to deliver thousands of network slices with low latency and service level agreements (SLA) on demand’.
As per Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documentation, DISH intends to build a 5G network that will comprise 15,000 cell sites and cover 70% of the US population by June 2023. As per the filing, DISH has also committed to deploy a core network and infrastructure covering 20% of the population by 14 June 2022.
The company has previously inked 5G agreements with a number of vendors, including the likes of Fujitsu, Altiostar and VMware.