Singtel and Nokia are collaborating on the development and trial of 5G network slicing capabilities in order to be able to support different 5G use cases in areas including cloud gaming, manufacturing and maritime operations.

The announcement comes only days after Nokia launched new network slicing functionality for 4G and 5G New Radio (NR), signaling the importance of the technique to support multiple virtual networks on a single physical network. (See Nokia releases new network slicing product for 4G, 5G.)

Singtel said the network as a service (NaaS) platform enabled by Nokia's next-generation operations suite and cloud management products will give it "greater control and visibility of services across the network while addressing specific 5G needs of enterprises." The operator said 5G network slicing trials will start with organizations in Singapore later in 2020.

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A recent white paper from Heavy Reading highlighted that 5G needs network slicing in order to succeed. Indeed, author Gabriel Brown, principal analyst for mobile networks and 5G, also included network slicing, as an enabler of a working end-to-end 5G architecture, among the five major 5G network themes for 2020. (See Unknown Document 757890 and 5G Networks in 2020: Show Me, Don't Tell Me.)

Singtel certainly sounds pretty enthused about the technology's potential: Mark Chong, the operator's group chief technology officer, said network slicing "will open up a realm of exciting possibilities for our enterprise customers to go to market quicker with new and innovative 5G-powered services, such as virtual reality, IoT and smart factory applications."

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— Anne Morris, contributing editor, special to Light Reading