T-Mobile US opened up a network slicing beta program that allows developers to test their video calling applications on a slice of the carrier's 5G standalone (SA) network. The move is the latest push by operators to unlock embedded 5G capabilities.

The program allows developers to sign up to test video-calling applications, which are considered a prime application for network slicing capabilities as they require a consistent and speedy uplink and downlink connection, low latency and reliability.

The program is initially open to Apple iOS developers in Seattle and San Francisco, with plans to expand availability nationwide and to Google’s Android operating system later this year. That device expansion is reliant on device manufacturers adopting network slicing support on the Android OS.

The carrier claimed video conferencing work was already being conducted by companies like Dialpad Ai, Google, Cisco’s Webex and Zoom Video Communications.

The program runs through T-Mobile’s DevEdge program, which the carrier launched in early 2022. DevEdge is the carrier’s developer platform that provides access to T-Mobile’s network using pre-certified modules, chipsets and devices. The carrier has since launched an IoT Developer Kit and earlier this year partnered with parent company Deutsche Telekom to provide an API model for developers to test applications on their combined networks.

T-Mobile launched its 5G SA network in mid-2020, and has since expanded it nationwide to support nearly all of its voice and data traffic. That network late last year received a boost from some new Cisco equipment and T-Mobile has been aggressively rolling out new features to take advantage of those updates.

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.

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

ABI Research as far back as 2018 predicted 5G network slicing would generate “$66 billion in value for enterprise verticals including manufacturing, logistics and transportation by 2026.” The research firm more recently noted that operators need to pay “attention to 5G slice-as-a-service and other ‘value-add services,’ which are critical to monetization.”

T-Mobile US rival Verizon recently touted its own network-slicing achievement that took advantage of the carrier’s virtualized, cloud-native and containerized network systems.

The carrier said it was able to pass data over multiple network slices across its network to a commercially available 5G smartphone. The trial used commercially deployed virtualized radio access network (RAN) and non-vRAN equipment running on Verizon’s 5G SA core.

However, operators have so far been unable to produce commercial applications that can unlock that financial opportunity, especially for the more lucrative enterprise market. This includes opportunities to power services like private 5G networks.

“Standalone 5G will probably have its greatest impact in the enterprise market, enabling technologies such as network slicing or supporting applications in areas like private mobile networks,” CCS Insight’s Kester Mann wrote in a recent research note tied to Vodafone’s recent consumer-focused 5G SA core launch in the United Kingdom.