Dish Network has given a major endorsement to the O-RAN system with the selection of Altiostar and Fujitsu as suppliers for its planned 5G network roll-out in the US. The deals include a "large purchase of radio units" from Fujitsu and a multi-year agreement with Altiostar to deliver cloud-native Open vRAN software.
Dish will use Fujitsu's Low Band Tri-Band RU and Mid Band Dual-Band RU, both industry firsts for O-RAN radios, across the company's spectrum portfolio. In addition, Fujitsu will provide support through its integrated supply chain to deliver radio and antenna integration. Additionally, Fujitsu will manage DU/RU hardware validation between vendors, including Altiostar and Mavenir, which are delivering cloud-native 5G radio software to Dish.
Both Altiostar and Fujistu have experience in O-RAN deployments already in Japan, with respectively Rakuten Mobile and NTT Docomo.
