Network slicing represents a huge – and brand-new opportunity to MNOs and MSPs. It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to secure entirely new revenue, from new customers and new applications, at massive scale. Slicing depends on the ability to define, deliver and maintain optimised service performance, but today, slicing is static. Dynamic, real-time slicing is required to unlock the full potential of this multi-billion opportunity.

How can dynamic slicing be achieved and how can MNOs and MSPs start to target this exciting new market?

According to a recent report by ABI Research, an analyst firm, network slicing is the key to unlocking a $66 billion opportunity for mobile network operators and service providers.

The report notes that this revenue will be secured from the “ever-increasing digital requirements of industry verticals”. In other words, this is entirely new revenue that MNOs and MSPs do not currently obtain. At a time when other revenue opportunities are in decline or challenged by emerging competitors, this is too large an opportunity to ignore.

The report adds that, “Network slicing affords the opportunity to be agile and to capture revenue that could otherwise be overlooked”, reinforcing the point that this revenue will be incremental to existing streams.

It’s been a long time since MNOs and MSPs have been able to discover new sources of revenue. 3G and 4G offered incrementally faster access for users and better service performance, but they did not unlock new revenue as such. They merely grew existing streams and MNOs and MSPs were unable to do much more than simply tinker with existing offers. Worse, new stakeholders emerged to capitalise on MNO and MSP investments. So, the ability to target a host of new services and customers represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the mobile industry.

As such, it’s essential to get it right. MNOs and MSPs need to act to capitalise on the emerging needs of different industry verticals. They need to understand what these are and to position to provide solutions. This means rapidly becoming experts in how to deploy and leverage network slicing techniques. If they fail to do so, they risk being overtaken by more agile competitors and losing out on this opportunity.

Slicing depends on the ability to both request and to maintain specific QoS and performance levels. Without this, the logical separation of the physical network doesn’t yield any unique benefits. On its own, slicing is necessary, but not sufficient. Each slice must be configured with very specific performance characteristics. However, today, slicing is static. It lacks the dynamic capabilities to deliver real-time, agile capabilities, which new services will require. Dynamic slicing is required to unlock the full benefits – and to successfully target this huge opportunity. That’s why Tambora’s gQoE solution is essential. It provides the missing link between the needs of external service users and the logical resources that are allocated in specific slices.

Tambora gQoE enables dynamic slicing, allowing:

• User specific
• Application specific
• Time specific
• On-demand

capabilities to be delivered. As a result, gQoE enables specific QoS requirements to be requested from a range of service partners – ranging from OTT video platforms, a huge diversity IoT services, and all the way to autonomous vehicles and complex healthcare applications – in effect, covering both massive IoT and critical IoT cases. The control of QoS it unlocks is real-time, which means that service optimisation is continuous to ensure that the required performance levels are maintained and delivered.

However, while network slicing is critical for 5G, it’s actually a technique that offers advantages for 4G networks, particularly to separate services and specific customers. MNOs and MSPs can already explore the boundaries of network slicing so that they can both understand the needs of industrial and vertical customers, while preparing offers that benefit from slicing technology.

MNOs and MSPs that seek to capture their slice of this $66 billion opportunity must act now to acquire the understanding of customer requirements and the expertise to deliver them. So, why wait? Why not get in touch with Tambora so that we can show you how to unlock the potential of network slicing with gQoE today, so that you can capture your slice of this exciting new revenue opportunity?