What’s up with… DISH, VMware, Jio, Amazon

• DISH chooses VMware for its telco cloud platform
• Jio nears 400m subs, starts developing 5G functionality
• Amazon gets the green light for its satellite system
• AWS ramps up its revenues

The latest cloud native technology selection by DISH and the ongoing amazing growth of India’s Jio are the top news picks from this roundup.

• US wireless newcomer Dish has selected VMware to supply the telco cloud platform it will need for its cloud native, open RAN-based 5G rollout. Dish had previously named Altiostar, Fujitsu and Mavenir as technology supplliers.
• Reliance Jio is fast approaching 400 million customers and increased its revenue from operations for the fiscal first quarter to INR165.6 billion ($2.2 billion). And as part of its plan to develop its own 5G functionality, it is also reported to have built its own 5G voice services platform, having already developed its own IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) for 4G voice, according to local reports.
• Amazon has had its Kuiper satellite constellation authorised by the FCC. It will involve up to 3,236 satellites designed to beam internet coverage to Earth and the FCC authuorisation means Amazon can start launching the first tranche of 578 satellites to initiate service. Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, says he’s going to spend $10 billion on ‘Project Kuiper’ and many of the satellites will  be hoisted by his own Blue Origin space company. Whether the move will help ease pressure on Amazon as it faces scrutiny by Congress (Bezos is promising the project will provide all manner of societal benefits for the US) or whether it demonstrates that Amazon intends to build even more market power by seeking to exert control over global access, is difficult to say. Perhaps both. If you want detail here is the FCC’s full order and authorisation. Easier to digest is Amazon’s own blog post.
• Amazon also reported its second quarter financials, which included Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenues of $10.8 billion, up by 29% from a year earlier. AWS also reported a 58% increase in operating income to $3.36 billion.
• Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems unit has teamed up with robotics and automation specialist KUKA to develop joint service packages for manufacturing companies.

- The staff, TelecomTV