Nokia and communications service provider A1 Austria have completed the industry’s first 5G edge cloud network slicing trial with Microsoft.

The deployment used Nokia’s 5G edge slicing integrated with Microsoft Azure managed edge compute on A1’s live commercial network in Vienna, Austria. With edge cloud network slicing, A1 can bring enterprise cloud applications to mobile users over a high capacity, secure and low latency network.

During the trial, A1 demonstrated real-time HD video streaming by transmitting live camera feeds from several mobile devices using Multicasting.io’s streaming mobile platform running on the Azure edge infrastructure. The 5G edge cloud network slicing can be used by enterprises and industries across use cases such as retail, media, utilities, healthcare and transportation. It offers mobile operators an opportunity to generate more revenue streams.

Nokia’s 5G edge slicing lets operators take advantage of slicing and edge cloud capabilities and provide value to their customers. Network slices can be tailored to support specific customers’ use cases and different applications based on network performance, quality, traffic routing, latency and security.

This enabled A1 to isolate its public internet and enterprise traffic while keeping critical business traffic local using 4G and 5G core breakout for enterprise edge cloud applications. The network slices were implemented across devices, RAN, transport, core, edge and cloud applications. 5G edge slicing enhanced the enterprise user experience for low latency and high bandwidth use cases with high network performance, quality security and manageability.

Nokia also offers a sliced mobile broadband VPN in selected business areas such as a campus or city environment. Scalable 5G edge slicing supports multiple enterprise VPN deployments using the same 4G or 5G network. It can be used with all 4G and 5G devices including URSP (UE Route Selection Policy) capable multi-slice smartphones for different applications.

“This deployment with our partners A1 and Microsoft is further demonstrating Nokia’s leadership in network slicing as well as our mission to help our customers unlock further 5G monetisation opportunities,” said Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia (www.nokia.com). “Edge cloud network slicing gives customers the best of both worlds with network slicing and edge cloud applications that enhance the enterprise customer experience.”

The trial was executed with Azure (azure.microsoft.com), which supports enterprise private and public applications at the operator and enterprise edge. Azure managed edge compute was deployed at A1’s data centre in Vienna with connectivity to the Azure region in Austria.

“We are excited to lead the industry with the deployment of edge cloud network slicing with Nokia and Microsoft Azure,” said Marcus Grausam, A1 CEO. “This innovation enables A1 to deliver secure, reliable and high-performance enterprise VPN services integrated with edge cloud applications over our 4G LTE and 5G networks. This collaboration opens up new business opportunities and demonstrates our commitment to delivering innovative services for our enterprise customers, as well as realising the full potential of 5G technology.”

Silvia Candiani, vice president at Microsoft, added: “Our collaboration with A1 and Nokia, and the deployment of network slicing using Microsoft Azure, is a testament to our commitment to innovation. As we redefine connectivity, we’re also providing opportunities to industry leaders like A1 and Nokia to tap into the large Microsoft ecosystem of enterprise developers and providers to help drive new monetisation efforts.”

A1 Austria (www.a1.net) is a communications provider encompassing about 5.1 million mobile communications customers and 1.9 million fixed access lines. The customers benefit from a global package of offers from one source: voice telephony, internet access, digital cable television, data and IT, wholesale services, and mobile business and payments. A1 Austria is part of A1 Group, a digital services and communications provider in the CEE region with around 26 million customers across seven countries. It has around 18,000 employees. As the European unit of América Móvil, one of the largest wireless service providers in the world, A1 Group is headquartered in Vienna.