AWS CEO reveals private 5G service for enterprises

AWS CEO Adam Selipsky revealed plans to launch AWS Private 5G at Amazon’s AWS re:Invent event, which took place in Las Vegas this week.

The new service will make it easier for organisations to deploy and manage their own private mobile network, according to Selipsky. The idea is to send AWS customers the required hardware, software, and SIM cards needed to set the mobile network up.

At the moment, many enterprises use local wired ethernet or Wi-Fi networks for  connectivity. However, the huge increase in devices over the past few years has put a strain on these systems. For an organisation to create their own mobile network, it would be complicated as they would need telecoms expertise and vendor partnerships, plus access to mobile spectrum.

Customers will tell AWS where they want the network built and the capacity they need before the service is turned on and auto-configures. It has currently been made available for preview in the US.

Selipsky said the new services “sets up a mobile network that can span anything from your corporate office to a large campus to a factory floor or a warehouse. You just pop the SIM cards into your device, and viola, everything is connected.”

“Ordering additional capacity, provisioning additional devices, or managing access permissions can be done easily just using the AWS console. And best of all, you can provision as many connected devices and users as your want without any per-device charges. With private 5G, it operates in the shared spectrum, so you don’t even need a spectrum license.”

Selipsky added that its pay-as-you-go service will allow companies to start small and scale up.

AWS said in its own statement that it will deliver and maintain the small cell radio units, servers, 5G core and radio access network (RAN) software, servers, and the SIM cards needed to set up a private 5G network and connect devices.

“Many enterprise networks are constrained by increasing growth in users, devices, and application demands. Increased video content, new applications that require ultra-low latency connectivity to end-user devices, and thousands of smart IoT devices demand extended coverage, more capacity, better reliability, and robust security and access control,” AWS said.

The company explained that, “customers want to build their own private 5G networks to address these limitations, but private mobile network deployments require customers to invest considerable time, money, and effort to design their network for anticipated peak capacity and procure and integrate software and hardware components and multiple vendors.”

Adding, “Even if customers are able to get the network running, current private mobile network pricing models charge for each connected device and make it cost-prohibitive for use cases that involve thousands of connected devices.”