Dish Network announced an alliance with Equinix, adding the data centre giant’s interconnection infrastructure to its portfolio of partner assets as it starts to activate its 5G network.

Jeff McSchooler, Dish Network EVP of wireless network operations, cited the proximity of Equinix’ infrastructure to large population centres as a major element in the decision in a statement revealing the deal.

Equinix noted Dish Network and its customers are likely to require access to other cloud providers, despite the operator locating its core network in the AWS cloud.

“Dish will leverage our extensive ecosystem of network partners and cloud providers to deliver a fast, powerful 5G network”, Equinix president of Americas Jon Lin explained.

Equinix stated it provides access to more than 2,900 cloud, IT and system integrator services globally.

The data centre giant opened a 5G technology test bed in partnership with Nokia in September, employing a non-standalone network supplied by the vendor to boost customers’ digital transformation efforts.

Dish Network is currently testing its open RAN 5G network  in Las Vegas with a broader rollout expected in the first quarter of 2022.