Here's why Paradise Mobile chose AWS for its 5G cloud

Paradise Mobile is planning to use its forthcoming 5G network in Bermuda to develop cutting-edge applications for other operators around the world. And it will do so in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) sandbox.

Paradise on Tuesday announced that it will run its planned cloud-native 5G network almost completely within the confines of the AWS cloud. The announcement puts yet another feather in AWS' cap as the hyperscaler competes against Oracle, Microsoft and Google Cloud for telecom business.

"We see Amazon as a strategic long-term collaborator who shares our vision and values, and has the ability to significantly accelerate our roadmap of innovative new products and services we want to launch in Bermuda," Sam Tabbara, CEO of Paradise Mobile, said in a statement. "This relationship will allow us to provide our customers with the best possible experience and create a hub for IoT innovation in Bermuda and beyond."

Specifically, Tabbara said Paradise plans to run its 5G network operations – including management software from Mavenir – directly inside a Kubernetes stack running on AWS. To do so, Tabbara explained that Paradise will install an instance of AWS inside a LinkBermuda data center and will run AWS at the base of each of its roughly two dozen planned cell towers.

"The opportunity for us with AWS is to accelerate that [5G] future," Tabbara told Light Reading.

AWS out in front

Paradise previously announced its plans to build a cutting-edge 5G network across Bermuda's roughly 20 square miles. The company's goal isn't to capture market share there, however. Instead, it wants to use the country, whose residents and visitors are wealthy, as a proving ground for new 5G applications and services. Paradise then hopes to export its learnings to other network operators around the world.

Figure 1: Paradise Mobile is planning to build a 5G network in Bermuda.
(Source: Don Mennig/Alamy Stock Photo)

The company's model is somewhat similar to the strategy employed by Rakuten in Japan. Rakuten Mobile built a cutting-edge 4G and 5G network there and now through Rakuten Symphony sells its platform to other network operators globally. However, Tabbara explained that Paradise isn't planning to get into the platform game like Rakuten but will instead build specific network-based applications and services that can be used by other operators.

AWS will play a key role in that strategy, according to Tabbara. He explained that enterprise developers are already familiar with AWS' cloud computing platform and therefore will be able to add networking into the mix as Paradise lights up its 5G operations.

"Anyone who knows how to code applications ... if you are able to code within that [AWS] ecosystem, then there's value add for us to be in that same ecosystem," Tabbara explained.

Flexibility is key

AWS is widely considered a leader in the nascent but potentially sizable market for telecom cloud services. Tabbara said Paradise selected AWS over Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform and other options because AWS offered a mature and flexible cloud package.

That flexibility was key because AWS doesn't offer a computing zone dedicated to Bermuda. The real-time needs of a 5G network require nearby computing resources in order to reduce network latency. Mavenir is supplying the radio access network (RAN) management – and radios – for Paradise's planned 5G system.

"You need to go to nonproprietary, black box solutions" in order to promote innovation in telecom, according to Tabbara.

Drone operations is one of the first 5G use cases that Paradise plans to support. Tabbara said that the company is in discussions with an unnamed drone startup that may use the Paradise 5G network for testing.

"They need to be able to talk in real time to the RAN," he said. After all, a few extra seconds of latency could mean the difference between a drone that successfully arrives at its destination and one that crashes.

And because of the new pairing between AWS and Paradise, that drone startup would do its development work inside the relatively familiar confines of Amazon's cloud computing platform.

"We're already co-developing some of these solutions," Tabbara said.

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— Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano