Amazon Web Services (AWS) expanded its telecommunications and private 5G network support running on its extensive public cloud infrastructure.

The cloud giant unveiled its fully managed AWS Telco Network Builder service that is targeted at telecom operators or enterprises wanting to deploy private wireless networks with a minimum of network management requirements.

Operators basically fill out a template using industry standard language that defines how they want their network to run. This includes connection points, networking requirements, compute needs, and geographical distribution.

That template is then plugged into the Telco Network Builder that translates those requirements into a cloud-native architecture tied into AWS’ public cloud assets. These include AWS’ Regions, Local Zones, Outposts, and Snow devices.

Jan Hofmeyr, VP for Amazon EC2, explained in an interview with SDxCentral the platform then exposes all of the cloud-native functions to the operator or enterprise that can monitor and manage their network through a centralized dashboard. Changes to compute or storage needs are automatically handled by the AWS platform.

Hofmeyr noted the platform is a more broadly focused version of the work AWS has been doing with established telecom operators like Dish Network and Swisscom.

“This need became very clear that it was necessary to turn this into a managed service versus doing it for each operator independently,” Hofmeyr said. “It was definitely informed by all of those engagements.”

AWS is touting the platform as being more cost effective for operators. This includes AWS’ ability to integrate new functions and services across the automation layer for operators. This in turn allows new features to be launched and commercialized more quickly.

The platform is available through a pay-as-you-go model where operators and enterprises pay for only the services they use. This is tangentially similar to how Hawaii-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Mobi recently launched its pilot 5G service.

The Telco Network Builder service also builds on AWS’ move toward broader support for 5G telecom services on its platform. Hofmeyr previously told SDxCentral that the vendor’s goal is “to make AWS the best place to run 5G networks.”

“That is the overarching objective,” Hofmeyr said during AWS’ recent re:Invent conference. “How can I make AWS, whether we are running it in the region, in a Local Zone, on an Outposts, on a Snow device, how do we make it the best place to run a 5G network, and then provide that infrastructure.”

AWS also unveiled its Integrated Private Wireless on AWS platform that acts as an infrastructure bridge for operators that want to offer a private network service tapping into AWS’ infrastructure to end users.

Hofmeyr explained this allows AWS to connect incoming customers interested in a private network platform with the cloud provider’s telecom partners.

“We are really just connecting the customer with the telco, then that relationship is between the two of them,” Hofmeyr said.

Initial telecom partners include Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, Orange, T-Mobile US, and Telefónica.

T-Mobile US, in a separate announcement said it was tying the Private Wireless on AWS platform into its Advanced Network Solutions portfolio to power 5G edge compute services. The carrier launched that program last May, which was a selection of 5G network and edge services targeted at enterprise and government customers.

AWS' new private network offering is different from its Private 5G platform that it initially unveiled in late 2021, and has since updated. That platform integrates small cell radio units, AWS’ Outposts servers, a 5G core, and radio access network (RAN) software running on AWS-managed hardware. AWS also handles the spectrum management of this service.

Hofmeyr added that AWS’ goal is to provide customers with an easy set of options that will allow them to deploy or operate a private network in a manner that meets their needs and abilities.

“Right now this is their ask, [it’s] helping us make this onboarding easier, and that's exactly what we're focusing on,” Hofmeyr said. “In the future, we'll continue to listen to what their needs are and continue to support that.”

The expansion comes as analyst firms and operators have tempered market expectations.

Dell’Oro Group recently cut its private network forecasts, reflecting “weaker than expected progress with on-site deployments.”

“Even with revenues coming in below expectations, our long-term position remains unchanged – we still firmly believe that private wireless is a massive opportunity,” Dell’Oro Group VP Stefan Pongratz wrote in the update. “At the same time, market opportunity is not the same as a forecast and given the current progress it will clearly take some time for the private wireless market to reach its full potential. In fact, our current forecast is for private wireless to reach roughly 10% of its potential by 2027.”

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg earlier this year lamented the slow uptake of private 5G services, which he partly attributed to network radio availability challenges that have in turn impacted service and deployment pricing options.

“We need certain radio base stations for private networks, different price ranges. We need modems for certain things. You need more than the handset and the macro sites that [are] now in there,” Vestberg said at Citi’s 2023 Communications, Media, and Entertainment Conference. “We would now have offerings for cheaper private 5G networks with certain suppliers and more high level, high quality. We didn’t have this optionality, and that’s why we’re now sort of seeing that we’re actually meeting the customer demands of building private 5G networks.”

Vestberg added that the carrier now has “the ecosystem for radios, so we are fully committed. We strongly believe in private 5G networks, and that’s a revenue stream we don’t have today because we’re not into Wi-Fi networks and optimization of a manufacturing site. We’re not into that today.”