Ericsson teamed with Amazon to deliver its BSS portfolio through Amazon Web Services (AWS), a move which could help the Swedish vendor fend off competition from rivals offering cloud-based options.

Mats Karlsson, VP and head of Solution Area BSS at Ericsson, explained in a blog cloud is an important topic in his customer conversations and indicated the vendor may extend access to its portfolio to other public cloud set-ups.

“When I talk to customers about their cloud transformations, clear patterns are emerging”, Karlsson wrote. “Service providers want choice…some are working with private cloud, some are moving towards public cloud and some are embracing a hybrid approach. But they also want choice when it comes to cloud providers”.

AWS and Ericsson are longtime partners, having first announced an alliance at Mobile World Congress in 2016. At the time, Ericsson said it would create cloud innovation centres and dedicate a team to helping operators leverage the cloud.

In a related blog, AWS telecom unit GM for solution portfolio and technology alliances Amir Rao stated the latest partnership provides an “additional option” for customers on a “cloud BSS journey”.

He noted CSPs “are increasingly looking to leverage the benefits that cloud platforms provide and, as a result, new partnership ecosystems are being galvanised in the telecoms industry”.