AT&T launched a “turbo” option for 5G users that promises a more consistent high-speed data experience – for a price – targeted initially at high-bandwidth mobile services but also hints at future network upgrades. It’s also not network slicing and appears to toe the line against recently instituted government internet regulations.

The dynamically named AT&T Turbo service is priced at $7 per month and is available on top of eligible current AT&T mobile phone plans. For that sum, those mobile phone users gain access to an “optimized data” experience “while customers are on the go” by way of gaining access to additional network resources.

This basically provides current mobile phone users with a way to pay extra and not have their service speeds throttled due to network congestion issues. Network throttling is the temporary reduction in network speed performance due to usage demands outstripping a cell sites spectrum capacity and is a common disclaimer used by operators for certain rate plans to help manage overall network performance.

AT&T phrased that optimized experience as being targeted at “high-performance mobile applications, like gaming, social video broadcasting and live video conferencing” that can be accessed either directly from a mobile phone or through a hot spot connection from that device.

“For example, if customers want less freezing or stuttering and lower latency when milliseconds matter in gaming, AT&T Turbo can help offer real-time responsiveness by improving the performance of customers’ data on the network,” the carrier explained in its release.

The service is notedly not currently compatible with AT&T’s recently launched 5G-based fixed-wireless access (FWA) service or AT&T’s hot spot specific devices. However, a customer could use their mobile phone’s hot spot feature, which is supported by the Turbo feature, to provide a similar fixed wireless connection.

AT&T was also sure to point out that the option adhered to “open internet principles” by applying the boosted service speeds to “a customer’s data regardless of the internet content, applications and services being used.” This clarification is tied to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent move to re-implement controversial net neutrality rules.

An AT&T spokesperson noted in an email to questions that the Turbo feature is “not available to AT&T’s Business today and we have nothing to share at this time.” This would indicate that features like the video-conferencing service referenced by the launch is targeted at consumer-based applications like Apple’s FaceTime or Google’s Meet.

AT&T did recently unveil an enterprise-focused FWA service that could support such video-conferencing services.

The AT&T spokesperson also explained that the carrier “materially modified and increased network resources and relative weighting for AT&T Turbo traffic, thereby creating a higher level of performance than we’ve ever before offered to consumers.” This includes AT&T’s ongoing deployment of new spectrum resources for its 5G network.

The carrier is also “proactively monitoring network capacity for visibility” in order to ensure customers regardless of their data plans do not see any degradation in their service quality. AT&T also maintains that users First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) users will maintain network priority over Turbo users.

“Modern networks perform extremely well,” the spokesperson wrote. “They are designed to manage a wide range of different types of traffic efficiently, so while AT&T Turbo users will see a performance improvement, that improvement will not cause network performance for other users to degrade. People who don’t buy AT&T Turbo will still receive the same level of service they have today.”

AT&T also hinted that the Turbo service is the “first step in modernizing and preparing our mobile network for future innovative use cases.” The spokesperson did clarify that the service does not use network slicing technology, which they explained “optimizes a connection to support particular use cases” as opposed to the Turbo service providing a more consistent data connection “regardless of the internet content, applications and services being used.”

Network slicing is viewed as one of the key architectural features of a 5G standalone (SA) core deployment. It allows an operator to basically set up siloed virtual networks that act as independent, scalable networks and can support revenue-generating premium services. Analyst firms have for been touting the financial benefits of commercial network-slicing capabilities, especially tied to penetrating different market verticals.

Cisco recently announced work with Dish Network on a network slicing proof-of-concept (PoC) that will run in a hybrid cloud environment and could be used to power enterprise applications that require service level agreements (SLAs).

The Turbo launch also comes just over two months after AT&T’s nationwide network went offline for multi-hour outage due to what COO Jeff McElfresh said was “the incorrect application of a process.” McElfresh told an investor conference shortly after the outage that the carrier was in discussions with U.S. regulators “and we’ll have to let that process take its due course.”

“Obviously the services we provide in the infrastructure that AT&T provides is really important and it’s critical not only for our nation but for our customers,” McElfresh said. “So, there’ll be follow-on discussions with our regulator the SEC and portions of the government. But that’s not unexpected and we’re prepared to participate in that.”