Colorado-based telecommunications provider DISH Network has tapped IBM to empower its new 5G network, the two companies announced earlier this month. DISH, which is most closely associated with satellite TV broadcasting, is hoping to bolster its wireless business with the United States' first greenfield cloud-native 5G network, which it is currently building across the country. The new smart network will be designed to be agile, scalable, and fully virtualized, benefitting enterprise customers across all industry verticals, and its operation will be enabled by IBM’s AI-powered automation and network orchestration software and services. IBM is also taking on a portion of DISH’s customer service and sales systems to provide enhanced pricing and billing offers.
DISH joined the wireless industry in 2019 after the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, which freed up the Boost Mobile subsidiary for purchase. DISH Wireless currently operates on T-Mobile and AT&T networks in the U.S. while its innovative new network is under construction, and holds a distant fourth-place behind those cellular providers and market leader Verizon. Earlier this year, DISH announced its network-sharing deal with AT&T, as well as a strategic infrastructure partnership with AWS.
