- The big cloud platform unveiled specialized Outposts hardware for telco AI and 5G
- Outposts is designed to let telcos use the same software and skills in the cloud and on premises for simplified operations with maximized performance
- AWS says it has a three-layer telco AI strategy, focusing on infrastructure services, middleware and applications
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, BARCELONA – Amazon Web Services plans to help telcos deliver the network performance required by new workloads, particularly AI, and to run demanding 5G core services.
At MWC Monday, AWS introduced new versions of its Outposts hardware optimized for telcos. AWS is launching rack-mounted models designed for high-throughput, network-intensive workloads like AI. The cloud provider is also launching a server version to run on-premises for hosted 5G Core functions, including RAN central unit (CU) and RAN distributed unit (DU) workloads.
Outposts is designed to enable telcos (and, previously, enterprises) to run AWS on premises for improved price performance and security. Operators can now use the same AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, tools, and a common continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline wherever their workloads reside to mitigate operational burdens, reduce integration costs, and maximize new feature development. Telefonica, Orange, and Du Network will begin field evaluations later this year, AWS. Outposts for telcos will ship later this year, the cloud provider said, though it did not provide specifics on availability and pricing.
Ishwar Parulkar, AWS CTO, telecom and edge cloud, laid out AWS's telco AI strategy in a call with analysts and journalists last week. He said the company has a three-layer approach: AWS provides infrastructure services, including GPUs, to train models; a middleware layer to help telcos build applications; and a layer of applications for developers, business analytics, call centers, and more. Customer service and network operations are areas of focus for AWS, working with carriers such as Dish, Telefónica and Comcast.
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