Verizon Frontline launches its 5G network-slicing service for public safety to enhance connectivity performance for first responders in dozens of select markets immediately, with the offering expected to be available nationwide by the end of the year
By Donny Jackson, Editor
Verizon Frontline today launched its 5G network-slicing service for public safety to enhance connectivity performance for first responders in dozens of select markets immediately, with the offering expected to be available nationwide by the end of the year, according to a Verizon Frontline official.
Verizon Frontline Vice President Cory Davis said the public-safety network slice—a 3GPP-standard technology that is available to carriers that implement a 5G standalone network core—is designed to ensure that first responders get the kind of uplink and downlink connectivity they need, even in difficult environments.
“This was truly built for our infrastructure, and we are just thrilled to get it out there,” Davis said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Now, we can really deliver on the promise of 5G.
“We’ve been talking about 5G, and 5G has been all about speeds for the last three years. Now, we’re actually putting functionality and use cases into the network. This isn’t speeds; this isn’t, ‘Let’s go do a speed test down at the stadium.’ This is about, ‘How well are your applications performing?’ This is all about performance—that’s the measure of success here.”
Verizon Business CEO Kyle Malady echoed this sentiment.
“When every second counts, Verizon Frontline is the #1 network of choice of first responders, enabling more than 40,000 public safety agencies across the nation,” Malady said in a prepared statement. “The launch of the Verizon Frontline Network Slice continues our unwavering commitment to meeting the highly specialized needs of first responders and is a crucial step forward in the evolution of public safety communications.”
Davis said the key to Verizon Frontline’s network slice is that capacity on the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband virtual network is dedicated to public safety.
“Where the magic happens is with the reserved bandwidth,” Davis said. “This slice guarantees a specific amount of bandwidth for those first responders, preventing any service degradation due to a congested and contested market.
“It dynamically adjusts, based on what’s happening at the sector of the tower at that time. But I want to make this clear: There will always be a percentage of capacity reserved and dedicated for the first responders.”
Based on testing and trials during the past 18 months, network slicing is having the desired impact on connectivity—particularly in support of video applications, according to Davis.
“We’ve seen huge improvements in jitter and huge improvements in latency,” he said. “We’re seeing huge reductions in the time it takes to get from frame to frame. So, this really solves for a lot of those pain points, specifically as it pertains to the video use case.”
Initially, the Verizon Frontline network-slicing service will be available only to law-enforcement, fire, EMS and national-security personnel, Davis said. Other critical-infrastructure entities could become eligible for the service in the future, he said.
Considered by many industry sources to be the most significant aspect of the 5G standard for critical communications, network slicing only can be implemented if an operator has upgraded its network core to meet the 5G Standalone standard—something Verizon has done, Davis said.
“The [5G standalone] core is everywhere, so network slicing will be available coast to coast,” Davis said. “It’s in select markets today, and we’re going to expand throughout the year—and it’s going to be a quick expansion. Very, very soon, we’ll have the whole country covered. Right now, for the launch, it’s in select markets, but it will nationwide later this year.”
According to a Verizon Frontline press release about the announcement, the network-slice service is immediately available in the following 29 markets:
● Charlotte, N.C.;
● Phoenix;
● Los Angeles;
● San Francisco;
● San Diego;
● Atlanta;
● Chicago;
● Minneapolis;
● Salt Lake City;
● Seattle;
● Cupertino, Calif.;
● Denver;
● Miami;
● Portland, Ore.;
● Omaha, Neb.;
● Las Vegas;
● Huntsville, Ala.;
● Milwaukee;
● Kansas City, Mo.;
● Albuquerque, N.M.;
● Indianapolis;
● Augusta, Ga.;
● Fresno, Calif.;
● Tampa, Fla;.
● Des Moines, Iowa;
● Ann Arbor, Mich.;
● Detroit;
● St. Louis; and
● Raleigh, N.C.
Verizon officials said the above list does not reflect all markets immediately able to receive network-slicing services, so public-safety agencies interested in the offering should check with their Verizon representative to learn of availability in a given location.
