BT’s First Real-World UK Deployment of 5G Standalone Network Slicing

Telecoms giant BT has today said they recently conducted their “first real-world deployment” of a 5G Standalone (5GSA) mobile broadband network using network slicing technology, which formed part of a trial that brought “superfast payments” to the Belfast Christmas Market last month.

Just for some context. 5G SA networks are pure end-to-end 5G that remove the legacy of 4G connectivity and can thus deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better upload speeds, network slicing, improved support for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, support for Voice over New Radio (VoNR or Vo5G) and increased reliability and security etc. EE has already begun to deploy 5G SA across busy parts of various UK cities (here).

As for network slicing, this is a related feature that allows for multiple virtual network slices across the same physical network. Each slice is isolated from other network traffic to give dedicated performance, with the features of the slice tailored to the use case requirements (online gaming, enhanced mobile broadband etc.).

In this case, BT conducted a 2-week trial, located in Lavery’s Beer Tent at the Belfast Christmas Market, which harnessed their 5G SA network and network slicing in order to support eight mobile payment terminals, enabling faster and more resilient card and mobile payments for thousands of customers at the busy market.

The trial demonstrated the capability of network slicing to help bypass congestion in busy locations and keep businesses connected through dedicated quality of service.

Paul Murnaghan, BT Group’s Northern Ireland Director, said:

“Businesses increasingly rely on technology that’s able to cope with the demands of the ever-pervasive digital world, securely. We have all visited a retailer and had the awkward ‘wait while we check’ to see if a payment has been completed correctly. Network slicing helps tackle this problem by enabling consistently fast and smooth connectivity, critically giving certainty to both traders and customers even when the network is busy in specific locations like Belfast Christmas Market.”

The catch here is that 5G SA networks are still in their infancy and so the opportunities for using network slicing in this way remain limited, although this will grow as the availability of such features expands. Vodafone last year conducted a similar trial at the far more challenging Glastonbury Festival (here).

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