VMO2 and Ericsson show off some network slicing for esport tournament

Those competing from Comic Con in the UK were able to thrash it out against rival teams in the US and Korea, which is not a technological marvel in and of itself in 2023, however the network slice ‘guaranteed the required bandwidth, latency, and jitter.’

It was also leant on to enable the live broadcast of the games to thousands of viewers worldwide, and provide enough dedicated network capacity for the tournament with 8000 visitors swirling around trying to connect at the Birmingham NEC.

Remote play and live broadcast was done over VMO2’s network using a Cradlepoint R1900 device that supports 5G SA and network slicing on the 3.5GHz band. The operator configured the network slice end-to-end through the Ericsson-powered radio and core network, and provisioned Hado’s SIM cards to be able to access it in a matter of minutes, we’re told.

“We are delighted to have enabled this ground-breaking event using our next generation 5G network. This is further evidence of the impact that network slicing can have on a range of industries,” said Jorge Ribeiro, Director of Service Platform Strategy & Engineering at Virgin Media O2. “The real benefit of network slicing is the ability to reserve a slice of the network for critical applications or services. In this example, the slice is optimised to provide the best latency possible, but equally it could be for something as critical as the emergency services at a busy event or live TV news broadcasting. The possibilities are endless.”

Blessing Makumbe, VP & Head of Cloud Software & Services, Ericsson UK & Ireland added: “5G standalone and network slicing showcases how advanced mobile networks can offer tailored connectivity with different requirements on speed, latency and reliability. This level of network performance will help meet the growing demands from consumers and businesses for premium connectivity services and enable cutting-edge innovation that will support future market growth for the UK in a wide range of new industries.”

Network slicing is one of the chief selling points when it comes to 5G standalone and particularly when it comes to private networks. To get a full run down on the state of the sector, check out our deep dive on the matter: What is network slicing?