T-Mobile warns of friction between net neutrality and network slicing

The Biden administration is working to reinstate net neutrality rules, but T-Mobile is signaling that new technologies like network slicing don’t neatly fit into the FCC’s plans.

“Network slicing is a prime example of a cutting-edge technology that could be negatively affected by regulatory uncertainty,” T-Mobile wrote in a new filing to the FCC.

T-Mobile isn’t the only company sounding the alarm on the issue.

“It takes a long time to develop new technologies to enable things like slicing, and these will require additional investment by operators to implement them into the network to meet consumer and industrial expectations,” Nokia wrote. The company said unclear guidelines on the topic would “hang like a regulatory sword of Damocles over the 5G market in the United States.”

But public-interest firm Public Knowledge argued that network slicing is already covered under the FCC’s “reasonable network management” carveout for net neutrality. “T-Mobile and other industry commenters fail to show why the Commission should weaken its rules in consideration of newer network management techniques,” the firm wrote. Public Knowledge noted that the FCC’s language is already technology-neutral and “newer network management technologies such as network slicing do not merit revisiting this approach.”

The topic is critical to the 5G industry in the US, which has widely discussed network slicing as a technology that could help dramatically boost revenues. T-Mobile, for its part, recently began offering a network slicing beta program to allow developers to build video calling services. More recently it created a network slice for patrons at last year’s Formula One Grand Prix in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, both AT&T and Verizon are working on similar offerings. For example, The Wall Street Journal reported late last year that Nvidia is testing its cloud gaming service, GeForce NOW, on AT&T’s network slicing service. Similarly, FierceWireless noted Verizon created a slice for a Formula 1 racer in November.

Network slicing stems from the standalone (SA) version of 5G. T-Mobile launched 5G SA in 2021, while AT&T said late last year that it’s moving some customers to its own standalone 5G platform. Verizon said late last year it’s still testing the technology.

A question of prioritization

At its core, network slicing promises to create a walled-off sliver inside a wireless network that would offer different capabilities than connections on a standard, public network. For example, a utility could buy a slice with a higher level of reliability, or a cloud gaming company could use a slice with faster speeds and lower latency.

As T-Mobile pointed out, the technology is rapidly moving throughout the globe. For example, the company noted that Indian operator Reliance Jio Infocomm offers slices for its fixed wireless service and its mobility offerings. And in Germany, the Hamburg S-Bahn relies on network slicing to operate autonomous trains.

But network slicing would appear to run afoul of a core principle of net neutrality: to prevent the creation of “fast lanes” for those who can pay more.

The FCC initially voted to enact its net neutrality guidelines during the Obama administration. But those rules were overturned during the Trump administration under FCC Chair Ajit Pai. After Biden replaced Trump and gained Democratic control of the FCC, the agency proposed a new set of net neutrality rules. Thus, it’s likely that, if Trump wins a second term, he would overturn them again.

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