Verizon touted network-slicing achievements that took advantage of the carrier’s virtualized, cloud-native and containerized network systems. Once commercially implemented, network slicing could power new revenue-generating enterprise and consumer applications.

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 standalone (SA) core.

“This end-to-end test successfully accessed network slicing capabilities from the device and validated the ability for the device chipset, operating system, application, radio network base station and the core of the network to work in harmony to demonstrate a full end-to-end path for data to travel on a virtual network slice,” Verizon noted on the trial.

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.

“Matching network performance characteristics to specific application requirements, network slicing promises differentiated customer experiences to efficiently provide our customers with the type of service they need to complete the task they want to complete on our network and provide them an exceptional experience,” Adam Koeppe, SVP of technology planning at Verizon, noted in a statement.

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.”

Verizon’s most recent test also highlights its ongoing push to launch its 5G SA network and vRAN equipment.

Verizon’s 5G SA core is built on its Verizon Cloud Platform (VCP), which uses a containerized cloud-native architecture specifically designed to support telecom workloads. This includes the ability to integrate Verizon’s extensive mobile edge computing (MEC) plans and support standalone, non-standalone (NSA), and voice over new radio (VoNR) services.

Commercial 5G NSA networks rely on an operator’s legacy 4G LTE core for base processing and routing. A 5G SA core, which consists of the user plane, control plane and shared data layer network functions, allows operators to deliver a more resilient core network and support highly touted 5G services like network slicing, automation, orchestration and MEC.

The carrier announced last October that it had begun moving commercial traffic to its 5G SA core network. Verizon initially pledged full commercialization of its 5G SA core in 2021, but eventually pushed the initial launch to 2022.

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg earlier this year said the operator would have its 5G standalone (SA) core up and running by the end of 2023, “so by the end of the year, you should see a network with incredible speeds, both downlink and uplink, and positioned to deliver 5G capabilities such as network slicing, voice over 5G, among others.”

Koeppe recently told SDxCentral that the carrier’s virtualized core work was now spreading out to its edge environments. This includes Verizon’s tens-of-thousands of vRAN cell sites and its growing edge locations.

This expansion is allowing the carrier to “push improvements and customer benefits – software updates and enhancements – much faster” and easier, which frees up its engineers to focus on other issues.

“You can constantly be testing improved software or features or bug fixes, whatever the case might be, in a replica of that production environment and then immediately push it out into production in a very agile way,” Koeppe said. “That’s the part where traditional cloud computing intersects with a cloud-based network for telecommunications.”

Verizon rival AT&T is also slowly rolling out its 5G SA network, noting late last year that it had begun supporting commercial customers on that platform. T-Mobile US has been running its 5G SA core for several years, while nearly nationwide 5G operator Dish Network is all-in on 5G SA.