With our recent network slicing deployment at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, that successfully handled thousands of refreshments and merchandise transactions over a four-day event for 300,000+ attendees, one thing is clear… T-Mobile literally has the only network ready for the slicing boom.
Here's why I'm so optimistic…
Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix
We've all been there, standing in a line in the sweltering heat, waiting to buy a taco and beer or maybe a tour t-shirt at a festival. Why isn't the line moving!? It's so frustrating. It could be the payment processing system can't connect. Consumers are furious and the taco and merch vendors are losing money every second the network is down.
Fast forward to the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Behind the scenes, the Las Vegas Grand Prix used T-Mobile network slicing - a new network management capability - to connect 230 concession payment terminals over the T-Mobile 5G network to back-end processing systems. Four days later without any major hiccups - for either concessionaires or fans - T-Mobile showed that the future is now the present.
This was the largest deployment of network slicing in the U.S. ever trusted to support such a high level of financial activity. While payment processing is not data intensive, it does require very high reliability so slicing was the perfect solution to create network performance characteristics customized for the unique needs of Las Vegas Grand Prix. Millions of dollars were at risk if the network failed. And all of the network activity occurred in a relatively small area with upwards of 100,000 people at-a-time using hordes of data - 213 TB throughout the event!
Red Bull Challenge
At the Red Bull Cliff Diving event in Boston this past summer, we used network slicing for remote video production – for the first time ever! We paired a 5G Hybrid Mobile Network from T-Mobile's 5G Advanced Network Solution (ANS) suite with the extreme power of our nationwide 5G SA network to boost Red Bull's broadcast capabilities.
The customized slice gave the broadcast team supercharged wireless uplink speeds so they could easily and quickly transfer high-resolution content from cameras and a video drone circling the event to the Red Bull production team in near real-time over T-Mobile 5G.
All the while, the 20,000 attendees at the event used their devices as normal - like uploading pictures and videos to social media accounts - and everyone was happy. Why? Because the network slice separated the broadcast production needs from the general consumer traffic.
SASE
In September, we introduced T-Mobile SASE, a network management and ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) platform that helps customers securely connect employees, systems and endpoints to remote networks, corporate applications and resources. And all without the hassle of installing a device-side client.
Not only is it the first SIM-based SASE solution, it’s also the nation’s first solution to offer customers with the latest 5G SA devices a secure network slice dedicated to SASE traffic. These industry-first components are designed to help make it easier than ever for organizations to protect corporate data and network resources from nearly anywhere.
Video Calling Beta Program
In September, we announced that the Un-carrier's video calling slicing beta is now available to developers nationwide. The program makes it easier for developers across the country to develop and test their new and improved video calling applications with the customized video calling network slice on T-Mobile’s 5G SA network using a commercial device.
In partnership with Cisco's WebEx team, some T-Mobile employees conducted hundreds of video calls over a 5G slice. Another promising video calling trial is on-going with Ceiba Health where ambulances can make video calls with hospitals to ensure the best treatments can be taken when every second counts.
Since we launched the program - the only such program available on a live SA 5G network - nearly a dozen of the world's top video conferencing and calling companies are developing video calling applications using T-Mobile network slicing.
We are in the very early days when it comes to network slicing, and with the first and largest 5G SA network in the country, we are the only provider poised to bring it to life at scale. Armed with this cutting-edge capability on our industry-leading network, we can work with developers, enterprises and government bodies to deliver and transform their businesses - and that is exactly what we are doing today. We are seeing innovation in action on a nearly daily basis and there are so many groundbreaking use cases to come. Stay tuned!
John