Power of the Slice: Now Creating Opportunities, but Not Where We Expected

Network slicing announcements are starting to appear in 2025 in the Western world, driven by the ongoing progress with Standalone (SA) 5G core network and 5G-Advanced deployments. In the United States, there are already high-profile examples where slicing is being announced with widespread media coverage:

• Verizon announced that its Frontline slice for public safety is available nationwide, and its 5G Ultrawideband (UWB) (using C-band spectrum) network is available. The slice capability is only available to first responders for now, allowing them priority access to Verizon’s network in times of emergency.
• T-Mobile US launched its SuperMobile business plan in August 2025. It offers nationwide satellite coverage and network slicing for enterprise clients, allowing them reliable and high-speed data access in remote and congested network environments.

Although these may appear groundbreaking, China has been offering network slicing products for many years now, in both consumer and enterprise domains. Packages for prioritizing social media access are offered for as little as US$2 per month. ABI Research expects many more new examples to follow worldwide, with Tier One operators building market-specific network slicing capabilities and Tier Twos to follow.

Network slicing technology has been developing for over a decade, failing to meet market expectations and create tangible value. However, this is now changing as slicing is considered a credible opportunity for new revenue to offset the stable or even negative service revenue trend in consumer subscriptions. Surprisingly, network slicing is succeeding in the consumer market with specific applications and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), rather than the enterprise domain, which was the primary development area when slicing was designed.

The following components contribute to the success of network slicing in 2025:

1. Wide Device Support for SA: The most vital ingredient for slicing success is device support for SA network features. According to ABI Research’s 5G Mobile Devices, Features, and Technologies: Vendors, Trends, and Forecasts market data (MD-MDEV-128), SA support has been universal in almost all smartphones shipped after 2022, making most devices in the market today capable of supporting network slicing.
2. Network Upgrades to SA: The new 5G core network is finally entering the mainstream market, 7 years after being fully standardized, and finally concluding the confusion and disruption caused by the dual phased standardization process (Non-Standalone (NSA) followed by SA). Operators that have not deployed SA will likely now accelerate their upgrade strategies.
3. Business Case Maturity: Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have experimented with new private cellular and edge computing business models and have built some expertise in enterprise business models. They are now applying this expertise and their experience in network slicing.
4. 5G-Advanced Network Capabilities: Many operators who have recently upgraded to SA have also upgraded to 5G-Advanced, allowing their radio networks to provide access to higher-quality connections.

The question now remains: what is the next step for network slicing?

Despite the willingness and the number of discussions around enterprise slicing, ABI Research expects consumer slicing to create a bigger, short-term, and tangible opportunity for telcos. This is already evident in the Chinese market, where all three operators have deployed slicing for consumer applications, including a slicing plan that allows prioritization of certain applications for as low as US$2 per month. This is a low Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) improvement, per se. Still, the addressable market is all consumer subscribers; the slicing product will appeal to many of them, and can open the door for new, more complex, and more expensive slicing plans.

Moreover, the initial focus for slicing on enterprise applications has proven to be a major challenge, especially in the manufacturing vertical. In this market, manufacturers value network integrity and operational security, meaning that using a public network—despite operator assurances—will meet with cultural inertia and significant friction. ABI Research expects telcos to focus on the consumer segment in the next 2 to 3 years because they are already very familiar with consumer subscription and pricing plans, and their platforms should be very capable of rolling out these new products immediately. Consumer slicing should be prioritized, while operators should build the capabilities and expertise to offer enterprise slicing in the mass market. However, this will be more complicated as Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees have been more complex to implement. Regardless, consumer slicing deployments will democratize the new concept and set the foundation for new types of services and consumer applications. The year 2026 will likely be when slicing finally enters the mainstream and will surely play a much larger role, especially when distributed Artificial Intelligence (AI) training and inference proliferate.