Stephen Minkler/Dreamstime
led the
index on Wednesday after the company announced a 5G collaboration with Amazon Web Services.
DISH stock (ticker: DISH) closed up 11% to $40.94, making it the best performer in the S&P 500 on a day the benchmark index rose 1%.
The telecom firm said it picked Amazon Web Services as its preferred cloud provider. The company said it will construct its cloud-based 5G open radio access network, or RAN, on AWS, starting with Las Vegas later this year. The company has said it plans to spend $10 billion to build out a 5G network with 15,000 sites by June 2023.
“As a new carrier, leveraging AWS and its extensive network of partners enables us to differentiate ourselves by operating our 5G network with a high degree of automation, utilizing the talent of AWS-trained developers and helping our customers bring new 5G applications to market faster than ever before,” DISH Chairman
Charlie Ergen
said in a news release.
Raymond James analyst Ric Prentiss called the deal a major positive for DISH in a note on Wednesday. He wrote that network slicing and enterprise business cases could give DISH an important way to monetize its network. He thinks the company will focus more heavily on enterprise customers, compared with traditional consumer retail wireless customers.
“Utilizing DISH’s Open RAN network architecture and AWS’s cloud capabilities, the partnership will allow AWS developers to use a dedicated slice of the DISH 5G network for specific network demands, providing customers with the latency, bandwidth, reliability, etc. to serve their needs (e.g., factories, workplaces, entertainment, transportation, etc.),” Prentiss wrote.
New Street Research analyst
Jonathan Chaplin
characterized it as a “foot-in-the-door” effort with a key partner, as well as a vote of confidence for DISH’s 5G network build. He notes that the core of his bullish DISH thesis was that the company will have a unit cost advantage over big wireless incumbents.
“Amazon represents the first commercial partner for DISH, which will undoubtedly help them scale up usage across their network as they market new products and services to consumers and enterprises,” Chaplin wrote, adding that “while it is somewhat disappointing that the announcement did not come with financial commitments (that we know of), we suspect it could lead to a much bigger relationship as DISH scales up the network over time.”
Write to Connor Smith at connor.smith@barrons.com
