- T-Mobile expands 5G network slicing with a new broadcasting slice for Disney
- Operator builds on earlier slices for first responders and security applications
- More enterprise deals expected as slicing capabilities mature through 2024
T-Mobile is now going great guns on network slicing, thanks to its nationwide 5G standalone (5G SA) network. Having deployed its T-Priority slice for first responders in September 2024, the operator is starting to deploy slices for large enterprises.
On its first-quarter call, T-Mobile executives noted that the 5G network slicing process is well under way, with Disney coming, on board with a 5G slice, Callie Field, president of T-Mobile’s business group said.
A Disney slice
“When it comes to a broadcasting slice, we announced this past quarter an interaction that we had with Disney Studios where we provided private 5G and a network security slice, where they were able to broadcast from remote locations to their studios [in] real time,” She said on the call.
“That was on Lilo and Stitch,” Field added. “That was a very cool use case.”
“It's another example of T-Mobile using their network slicing capabilities of their 5G SA nationwide network to enable traffic prioritization — to provide improved throughput and latency SLAs,” noted Roy Chua, principal at AvidThink.
“In 2023, we started to play around already with network slicing,” noted T-Mobile’s president of technology, Ulf Ewaldsson, on the call. “We started in sports events because it’s a great way to show that it really works.”
“All of that has led us in 2024 to industrialize this much more,” Ewaldsson said. As well as the T-Priority first responder slice, the operator has launched “a security slice where we can tie SIM security all the way through a slice into the network core,” Ewaldsson said.
“Much more to come,” promised the T-Mobile technology president.
“We expect more enterprise deals this year as network slicing matures. In addition to the Disney project and T-Priority service, slicing pilots have taken place with the likes of SailGP and Formula One,” noted SNS Telecom & IT 5G research director Asad Khan.