Amazon AWS launch their cloud telco solutions
The move to cloud infrastructure has been slow to take off in the telecoms industry but it is a force that will continue to gather pace. Finding ways in which cloud services can meet the explicit needs of network operators and the regulatory environment in which they operate can be a challenge. The big players in cloud services Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Services and Amazon AWS are set to battle for market share in this industry in the coming years. In advance of Mobile World Congress it is always likely to hear big announcements from these players. This year is no different.
What is the AWS offering to the telecommunications industry?
Amazon AWS has been working on ramping up how it works with telecom carriers as customers and partners. This move could be as a result of the slowing growth for cloud services overall at AWS with rivals Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud now in the picture. Firstly, a ‘Telco Network Builder’ for carriers to use its cloud to build and scale 5G and other telecoms networks. And secondly, a service to use AWS to build and manage private wireless networks for enterprises.
The two new initiatives are to be part of the announcement that AWS detailing how it’s working with carriers to build better relationships by providing tools for third-party access to networks to build services and more. Amazon will be opening up its cloud network so that telcos can plan, run and scale 5G, 4G, and other networks more quickly, by turning them into managed services banked around AWS infrastructure.
Carrier customers, AWS said, will use a template to detail parameters like connection points, networking requirements, compute, and geographies; these are then run through an automated engine to build out a network architecture. That architecture will include AWS compute and other AWS resources, with the process having the ability to be carried out, adjusted and updated over a period of hours, instead of the usual days, weeks or even months.
5G also has been a big investment to build out the latest generation of network infrastructure, so carriers are now driving hard on building new services to generate revenue from those networks, with one of their main targets being B2B and enterprise opportunities.
Private wireless networks
The second product takes on some of the makings of the network builder and applies it to how carriers can provision private wireless networks. These are essentially mini service providers of their own, which are often used by smaller carriers or larger enterprises that run their business data and voice networks like small telecoms service providers in themselves. The big advantage here is they are potentially more robust, more cost-effective, and more secure than Wi-Fi networks.
Typically a private network stitches together network capacity from multiple carriers in multiple regions. AWS has a massive global footprint for its cloud business, which gives it a good basis for building and provisioning that, and it also already has a number of carrier partners signed up to underpin that with regional network capacity, including T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and KDDI, with more reportedly coming on and getting announced alongside these.
AWS will act as the portal, but telcos will be the managed service providers for the network on behalf of those enterprises or smaller service providers. As with the telco network builder, AWS will provide a dashboard for monitoring performance and modifying it as.
For carriers, they are now in a world where arguably communications is just another tech service, so many of them believe that running them with fewer costs and in more flexible ways will be the key to winning more business, introducing more services and getting better margins.
If you would like to discuss the move to cloud infrastructure for you messaging systems and network please get in touch today and we can discuss your specific needs.
