The successful trial, conducted on Ericsson 5G Standalone (SA) infrastructure and Samsung Galaxy S21 5G devices, paves the way for slice access on 5G devices.
Claudia Nemat, board member, technology and innovation, Deutsche Telekom, said: “5G SA Network Slicing sets a foundation for the creation of new service offerings to consumer and enterprise customers. As an experienced focused company, it is essential that we demonstrate the value of 5G slicing for our customers lives. As a world’s first, our unique collaboration with Ericsson and Samsung to provide slices to commercial devices shines a light on how we can bring these benefits to our customers.”
The demonstration was implemented in an E2E Network Slicing testbed at Deutsche Telekom’s Bonn lab, with the three reported that "an important world first milestone was successfully achieved".
Specifically, the 5G UE slicing policy feature (UE route selection policy, or URSP) that allows a device to steer applications and services with specific requirements to a defined slice. With this, a customer can experience great service quality by serving applications with the right network slice.
Exploring a cloud VR streaming game use case, two independent E2E network slices were created: a default MBB slice and the cloud VR gaming-optimised gaming slice. The trial demonstrated "a superior experience on the gaming slice even under congested network conditions".
Erik Ekudden, Group CTO at Ericsson added: “Network slicing is a key enabler for monetisation of 5G. New digital services to consumers and enterprises become reality because the technology makes it possible to create fit-for-purpose software defined virtual networks with defined characteristics.
"To bring these services to the market, it is vital for operators to start from their own business and to collaborate with customers as well as relevant ecosystem players to demonstrate value creation and technical readiness. We are very proud to closely collaborate with Deutsche Telekom as one of the globally leading operators, and with Samsung, to bring the value of network slicing to the market.”
