Cisco and Dish Network are working 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 PoC will run Cisco hardware and software. Cisco noted this will include the NCS and ASR routers, Nexus switches and Crosswork Network Controller that Dish is already using in its cloud-native 5G standalone (SA) network. Cisco recently introduced transport slice automation capabilities in the Crosswork 6.0 update.

“Through testing network slicing in a hybrid cloud, we can help Dish better ensure network performance as part of its service level agreements (SLAs) and automate how the network manages a variety of business applications that each have different requirements for speed and reliability,” Waris Sagheer, CTO for Cisco's Service Provider business, explained in a statement.

The latest efforts build on an initial agreement signed between Cisco and Dish in late 2021 That agreement included an enterprise go-to-market strategy, which included work toward implementing network slicing services “to meet the needs of specific industry verticals.”

Network slicing is viewed as one of the key architectural features of a 5G SA 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.

Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen has repeatedly cited the carrier’s unique network architecture and its ability to support network slicing capabilities as key to the operator penetrating the lucrative enterprise market.

“The enterprise business is about controlling your data, making sure you get your data so you can improve your product, make it safer, make it cheaper, make it more innovative, gain market share over the competition, make sure that you’re reducing climate change and sensors and all kinds of things that you might need where you have control over your data,” Ergen said during the carrier’s most recent earnings call. “That’s very difficult to do with incumbent networks so that’s why I’m bullish on that side of our business because I think we have strategic advantages.”

Analyst firms have for years been touting the financial benefits of commercial network-slicing capabilities, especially tied to penetrating different market verticals.

ABI Research noted that it still expects a dynamic market over time, but that current technical and use cases issues have slowed those forecasts. The firm had initially forecast a $66 billion market opportunity by 2026; however it’s now forecasting a $19.5 billion market by 2028.

“Horizontal integration for cross-domain interoperability is critical going forward. Equally important is vertical integration for 5G slicing lifecycle management of multi-vendor deployments,” Don Alusha, senior analyst at ABI Research, wrote on the ongoing market challenges.

“There is ongoing market activity for the 5G core network penetration and maturity of 5G slice management functions. To that end, enterprises will seek to create and reserve slices statically and on demand. They also want to efficiently integrate with cloud providers through open and programmable [APIs] to enable hybrid cloud/cellular slice adoption. [Network equipment vendors] and other suppliers offer solutions enabling [communication service providers] to create fully automated and programmatic slicing capability over access, transport and core network domains.”

Forrester Research Senior Analyst Octavio Garcia Granados recently stated that timing of network slicing capabilities were being slowed by market realities.

“The reality is not as rosy as one might think, given the dependency on communities outside the telecommunications industry,” Granados wrote. Granados stated that network slicing opportunities over the next two years would revolve around continued experimentation, which would be followed by initial adoption, and finally network slicing becoming common in 5G networks starting later this decade.