Amazon makes big telco moves including T-Mobile partnership

Amazon’s hosted cloud division is looking to become a major provider of 5G telecom services.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is attempting to establish itself in the network automation, orchestration and hosting space with two new offerings: a collaboration with T-Mobile and its own deployment/management platform for telco networks.

Here’s a brief summary of each initiative:

T-Mobile partnership

AWS is teaming up with T-Mobile to offer 5G connectivity paired with AWS cloud-based computing solutions via T-Mobile’s 5G Advanced Network Solutions portfolio. The two companies will also collaboratively develop customizable, use case-specific offerings via the Amazon Integrated Private Wireless program. These will be designed to deliver network capabilities needed for specific client use cases, such as monitoring worker activity in remote locations.

Current AWS users or businesses wanting AWS services can use the Integrated Private Wireless on AWS portal to explore customized solutions, browsing by industry or use case. Then can then choose T-Mobile as their 5G provider.

For U.S. businesses that are new to any advanced network or compute solution, T-Mobile will be able to work with them to set up a 5G public, hybrid or private network that’s already integrated with AWS’s customizable edge infrastructure and services.

“AWS and T-Mobile share a common desire to work backwards from customer feedback to deliver innovation,” said Adolfo Hernandez, VP, telco industry at AWS. “One of the biggest challenges in galvanizing industries and revenue for 5G services has been the lack of flexible 5G solutions that meet the compute and connectivity needs for customers. Together with T-Mobile's innovative suite of 5G Advanced Network Solutions and our Integrated Private Wireless Program, we have the power to meet customers where they are.”

“T-Mobile and AWS are coming together to do what industry-leading companies do best – make things easier for customers,” said Callie Field, president, T-Mobile Business Group. “Businesses need a combination of connectivity and compute that fits into their current infrastructure. With our flexible 5G network deployment options and AWS’s cloud compute capabilities, we can quickly provide customers a right-sized solution to make their applications – new and existing – perform like never before.”

AWS Telco Network Builder

AWS is also launching AWS Telco Network Builder, a fully managed service that enables users to deploy, run, and scale telco networks on AWS. Communications service providers (CSPs) can use telecom industry-standard language to describe the details of their network (e.g., connection points, networking requirements, compute needs, and geographical distribution) in a template uploaded to the service.

AWS Telco Network Builder translates the template into a cloud-based network architecture and provides the necessary AWS infrastructure. According to Amazon, this enables deployment of an operational, cloud-configured telco network in hours.

As customers update their networks, AWS Telco Network Builder will automatically adjust compute and storage resources. The service also provides a centralized dashboard to monitor and manage the network running on AWS infrastructure. There are no upfront commitments or fees, and customers pay only for the AWS services used to manage their network.

“The telecom industry is undergoing a transformation as CSPs navigate building their telco networks in the cloud,” said Jan Hofmeyr, vice president of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). “Some of the biggest challenges CSPs face as they look to migrate include manually configuring and then managing these complex networks, which impedes growth and stifles innovation. Groundbreaking in the value it provides to the telecom industry, AWS Telco Network Builder removes the burden of translating a customer’s desired telco network into a cloud architecture, empowering them to easily modernize and quickly scale to meet demand while freeing time and capital to build new offerings, expand coverage, and refocus on invention.”

AWS Telco Network Builder is generally available today in Northern Virginia, Oregon, Sydney, Australia, Frankfurt, Germany, and Paris, France, with availability in additional global regions coming soon. Initial end users include Amdocs, Cloudify, Infosys, Mavenir, and O₂ Telefónica.

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