Dish develops first cloud-based SA 5G network in the US with Altiostar

Dish Wireless logo
(Image credit: Dish)

Following the announcement earlier in the year that Dish Network, the US satellite TV provider, was planning to build the first virtualized standalone (SA) 5G network in the United States, it has begun announcing the winners of a number of RFPs (request for proposals), with Altiostar having been selected for its 5G cloud-native Open RAN software.

“By using an open architecture to build the first standalone 5G network in the US, we are able to work with the best vendors from across the supply chain."

Marc Rouanne, Dish.

“By using an open architecture to build the first standalone 5G network in the US, we are able to work with the best vendors from across the supply chain to effectively serve multiple segments, including consumers, enterprises and emerging 5G vertical markets,” said Marc Rouanne, Dish executive vice president. “Altiostar’s proven expertise in O-RAN will allow us to build an open mobile network with the automation, resilience and agility needed to deliver services that will differentiate us in the wireless market.”

Dish wants a 5G Boost

As a result of the $26.5 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, Dish is expected to acquire Sprint's prepaid mobile carrier, Boost Mobile, as well as Sprint's 800MHz wireless spectrum, to help it develop its 5G network. And by partnering with Altiostar, Dish will be able to take advantage of cloud-native microservice-based O-RAN, enabling Dish to dynamically scale its network, and open up a host of new 5G use cases.

“Altiostar is excited to partner with Dish and execute on their vision to build the first cloud-native, O-RAN 5G network in the US.”

Ashraf Dahod, Altiostar.

“Altiostar is excited to partner with Dish and execute on their vision to build the first cloud-native, O-RAN 5G network in the US,” said Ashraf Dahod, CEO of Altiostar Networks. “As a US company, we are proud to contribute our leading open vRAN technology innovation to Dish, and work with the fast growing O-RAN ecosystem to accelerate 5G leadership in the U.S.” 

Altiostar has been at the forefront of the OpenRAN movement, which, in the wake of Huawei security concerns, is now being embraced by mobile operators around the world. And by using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), Altiostar’s O-RAN architecture provides end-to-end automation, zero-touch commissioning and faster network recovery.

And Altiostar’s Open vRAN technology has already been deployed and proven at a large scale for Rakuten Mobile, the Japanese mobile operator that launched commercial service earlier this year.


Dan Oliver

Dan is a British journalist with 20 years of experience in the design and tech sectors, producing content for the likes of Microsoft, Adobe, Dell and The Sunday Times. In 2012 he helped launch the world's number one design blog, Creative Bloq. Dan is now editor-in-chief at 5Gradar, where he oversees news, insight and reviews, providing an invaluable resource for anyone looking to stay up-to-date with the key issues facing 5G.