AWS said the private mobile network makes use of CBRS spectrum, while it currently supports 4G LTE and will support 5G in the future
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the availability of its AWS Private 5G, a managed service that helps enterprises set up and scale their own private mobile networks.
AWS emphasized its offering’s ease of deployment and low cost in its announcement, promising to deliver the necessary hardware and software and simplify the network procurement process.
“With only a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, you can specify where to build a mobile network and the number of devices you want to connect. AWS then delivers and maintains the small cell radio unit, the mobile network core and radio access network (RAN) software, and subscriber identity modules (SIM cards) required to set up a private mobile network and connect devices,” AWS said in a release. “AWS Private 5G automates the setup and deployment of the network. No upfront fees or per-device costs are incurred with AWS Private 5G, and you pay only for the network capacity that you request,” the company added.
Despite the “5G” moniker, however, AWS Private 5G only supports 4G LTE at this point; the company says it will support 5G in the future.
The service makes use of CBRS spectrum and is available in US East (Ohio), US East (N. Virginia), and US West (Oregon) AWS regions. The company said it is currently working to make the service available outside of the United States in the near future.
AWS noted that private mobile network deployments require enterprises to invest considerable time, money, and effort to design their network for anticipated peak capacity and procure and integrate software and hardware components from multiple vendors. “Even if enterprises are able to get the network running, current private mobile network pricing models charge for each connected device that makes it cost prohibitive for use cases that involve thousands of connected devices,” the company said.
According to AWS, its private 5G solution “simplifies the procurement and deployment enabling enterprises to deploy their own private mobile network within days instead of months as well as scale up and down the number of connected devices rapidly.”
AWS also highlighted that each network supports one radio unit that can provide up to 150 Mbps of throughput spread across up to 100 SIMs. AWS said it is working to add support for multiple radio units and greater numbers of SIM cards per network.
“Planning and deploying a private wireless network can be complex and not every enterprise will have the tools to do this work on their own. In addition, CBRS spectrum in the United States requires Certified Professional Installation (CPI) of radios. To address these needs, we are building an ecosystem of partners that can provide customers with radio planning, installation, CPI certification, and implementation of customer use cases. You can access these partners from the AWS Private 5G Console and work with them through the AWS Marketplace,” Jeff Barr, VP and chief evangelist for AWS, said in a blog post.
