Vodafone Netherlands claimed to be the first telecoms company in the country to introduce network slicing, offering enterprise customers access to a part of its wider mobile network for business-critical applications.

The company explained in a statement companies and organisations would be able to reserve a part of the public mobile network from this month.

It pledged the network will always provide “sufficient capacity”, even during congestion.

By reserving a “slice” of capacity, customers will be able to guarantee their mobile connection continues to function stably, with slices ensuring data traffic is assured a fast connection.

Network slicing is expected to give a major boost to operators in adapting their business models, along with providing a new revenue source to help fund investments in next-generation networks.

Slicing in Europe
Vodafone follows other deployments of network slicing in Europe, most recently in Norway with Telia deploying a private 5G network for the military and a trial in Austria through operator A1.

In the Netherlands, Vodafone pointed to a number of potential applications of the technology, including emergency responders using slicing to get in contact with hospitals and large events gaining quick access to real-time security camera images.

Vodafone added it prepared for the deployment through trials at a concert, a hockey tournament and the Pride festival in Amsterdam.