5G network slicing can create new monetisation opportunities for telecom operators by enabling differentiated network experiences for consumers and enterprises, according to a senior Ericsson executive. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat slicing does is it optimises the resources that are available and makes them more efficient for the kind of service that you want to deliver. You can have slices both on the consumer side, as we have seen with launches, and also on the enterprise side, and for enterprise applications for consumers as well,\u201d Ericsson India Head Nitin Bansal told ETTelecom in an interview. <\/p>\n
The technology remains at the centre of a growing debate around net neutrality following the launch of Airtel network slicing-based service on its 5G network for its postpaid users. The offering though soon came under the government\u2019s scrutiny after a section of stakeholders raised concerns about potential violation of net neutrality principles. <\/p>\n
The Sunil Mittal-driven telco maintains that it fully aligns with and complies with the country’s net neutrality norms, and the newly unveiled service does not include any content-based discrimination, and there are no commercial arrangements with content providers. The telco has recently rebranded “Priority Postpaid” to “Fast Lane” service. <\/p>\n
Telecom players can define specific quality-of-service parameters for different content types. \u201cThe way the slice works is that you can define certain quality-of-service parameters for a certain content type. It does not differentiate on the content provider. It is about bringing in more capacity and capability, and also enabling subscribers to choose those slices,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
On the monetisation potential of network slicing, Bansal said operators will ultimately decide how they package and price such offerings. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will have to see how operators decide to monetise in terms of packaging it, but from our point of view, we can enable the capabilities and the network for that option to come accordingly. It is a good start with slicing on the consumer side. And then there are multiple options for slicing that hopefully we will see as we go along.\u201d<\/p>\n
The launch has also triggered discussions around whether network slicing could violate net neutrality principles.<\/p>\n
Responding to the debate, Bansal stressed that slicing is based on content type rather than content provider. \u201cSlicing on 5G does not differentiate on content provider; it differentiates on content type,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you have a slice for streaming, all platforms delivering streaming services have the same experience on that slice. If you have a slice for gaming, all gaming service providers will have exactly the same experience on that slice. Similarly, if you have a slice for uplink, for example, when you are watching a game or a concert and expect a lot of subscribers to be taking video and uploading it, you can have a slice for uplink, and irrespective of the platform you are able to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n
While refraining from commenting on the regulatory aspect, he said, \u201cWe will leave it to the competent authorities to come to a decision. I want to highlight that it is not differentiating on the content provider, but globally that is how it works.\u201d <\/p>\n
“The network slicing has already been implemented in several markets globally across both consumer and enterprise segments. Closer to us, Singtel has already launched such a service.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
5G network slicing can create new monetisation opportunities for telecom operators by enabling differentiated network experiences for consumers and enterprises, according to a senior Ericsson executive. \u201cWhat slicing does is it optimises the resources that are available and makes them more efficient for the kind of service that you want to deliver. You can have slices both on the consumer side, as we have seen with launches, and also on the enterprise side, and for enterprise applications for consumers as well,\u201d Ericsson India Head Nitin Bansal told ETTelecom in an interview. The technology remains at the centre of a growing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1016479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-telecom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1016479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1016487,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016479\/revisions\/1016487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1016479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1016479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1016479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}