Vodafone and Ericsson said they’ve successfully completed the U.K.’s first 5G standalone (SA) network slicing trial.
Network slicing is one of the big perks enabled by 5G Standalone (SA) networks, but not everyone has a SA network right off the bat. Incumbent operators in the U.S., for example, started with Non-Standalone (NSA) networks for 5G.
Network slicing is one opportunity for operators to finally get a (potentially significant) return on their 5G investments. Carriers can sell “slices” of their networks to different enterprises for their exclusive use.
Once enabled, a network slice can be customized based on different variables, such as geographical location, download and upload speeds, latency, capacity and security.
In their joint lab demonstration, Ericsson and Vodafone created an on-demand 5G network slice using a radio access network (RAN) slicing function. Their goal was to provide low latency and high bandwidth required for a virtual reality use case in a retail store. According to Vodafone, the slice guaranteed a download speed of 260 Mbps and latency of 12.4 milliseconds.
The process, from placing an order to creation of the network slice to carry live network traffic, took 30 minutes. The lab trial is the first of its kind for the mobile industry in the U.K., according to a press release.
“Network slicing is an incredibly valuable step forward. By segmenting our network, and customizing different slices for different requirements, we can bring to life new ideas that would be impossible otherwise,” said Vodafone U.K. Chief Network Officer Andrea Dona in a statement. “When we configure our network to empower new services, industries like gaming, entertainment and healthcare can enter a new era. What might seem like science fiction is one step closer thanks to network slicing.”
In the future, Vodafone U.K. said it will create a catalog of different network slices that can be selected by customers depending on the required experience.
The press release didn’t say when Vodafone U.K. will launch a commercial SA 5G network. According to Light Reading, Dona doesn’t see network slicing as a commercially viable service until there’s an overhaul of U.K. rules on net neutrality.
Last year, Vodafone Germany became the first operator to launch 5G standalone in Europe.
U.S. lags in standalone 5G
In the U.S., operators aren’t as quick to jump on the slicing train. T-Mobile claimed the first large-scale SA 5G deployment, with its nationwide launch in 2020, but it hasn’t said a lot about features specific to SA, including network slicing. Dish Network, which doesn’t have an LTE network of its own, will launch with standalone 5G when it goes live.
At its investor meeting earlier this month, Verizon said it’s early days for implementing standalone capabilities but it’s “making great progress” with its partners on that front. It will start moving fixed wireless accounts onto the 5G core in June, with mobility traffic moving onto the 5G core in 2023. Those moves will allow Verizon to support network slicing use cases, according to CTO Kyle Malady.
Last fall, AT&T was still in the testing phase of standalone 5G and wasn't saying when it would deploy the technology.