By Joseph Waring
Telenor beefs-up slicing capability as demand rises
Telenor highlighted growing demand for network slicing to improve both performance and security, with the need for the capability be supported in the wide area network as well as private networks.
Terje Jensen, Telenor’s Head of Network Architecture, explained several major customers are asking for slicing capabilities to isolate traffic, applications and devices to reduce the surface for cybersecurity attacks. This will enable defined applications on a smartphone, for example, to only be allowed to communicate within a slice to a defined set of servers.
Speaking to Mobile World Daily before his presentation today on the That’s my Slice session, he said: “There are customers explicitly asking for slicing, meaning it is key to support that functionality in a timely manner to provide an adequate offering.”
Network slicing is a tool for optimising network resources and ensuring service levels, such as separating IoT from smartphone traffic and to separate fixed wireless access from mobile broadband, he stated.
The operator demonstrated network slicing in several customer cases, such as search-and-rescue and event media production, to guarantee quality of high-resolution video.
Jensen added slicing requires end-to-end automation across all domains such as devices, radio and mobile core.