Nokia, A1, and Microsoft Spearhead Groundbreaking 5G Edge Cloud Network Slicing Solution for Enterprises

Espoo, Finland , Feb 13, 2024: Nokia and A1 Austria (A1) have joined forces to pioneer the industry’s inaugural 5G edge cloud network slicing trial in collaboration with Microsoft. This milestone deployment leveraged Nokia’s innovative 5G edge slicing solution seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Azure managed edge compute, operating on A1’s live commercial network in Vienna, Austria. Through edge cloud network slicing, A1 aims to deliver enterprise cloud applications to mobile users via a high-capacity, secure, and low-latency network.

During the trial phase, A1 showcased real-time HD video streaming by transmitting live camera feeds from numerous mobile devices utilizing Multicasting.io’s streaming mobile platform running on Azure edge infrastructure. The 5G edge cloud network slicing solution holds promise for a diverse array of industries including retail, media, utilities, healthcare, and transportation, offering mobile operators lucrative opportunities to diversify revenue streams.

Nokia’s 5G Edge Slicing solution empowers operators to harness the combined benefits of slicing and edge cloud capabilities, catering to specific customer use cases and applications based on network performance, quality, traffic routing, latency, and security. A1 successfully isolated its public Internet and enterprise traffic while preserving critical business traffic locally using 4G/5G core breakout for enterprise edge cloud applications. The network slices were meticulously implemented across Devices-RAN-Transport-Core-Edge Cloud Applications, significantly enhancing the enterprise user experience for low-latency and high-bandwidth use cases with top-tier network performance, quality security, and manageability.

Moreover, Nokia’s solution offers a sliced mobile broadband VPN in designated business areas such as campuses or urban environments, supporting multiple enterprise VPN deployments using the same 4G/5G network and compatible with all 4G/5G devices, including new URSP (UE Route Selection Policy) capable multi-slice smartphones for varied applications.

The trial was conducted in collaboration with Azure, which facilitates enterprise private and public applications at the operator and enterprise edge. Azure managed edge compute was deployed at A1’s data center in Vienna, with connectivity to the Azure region in Austria.

Marcus Grausam, CEO of A1, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “We are excited to lead the industry with the deployment of edge cloud network slicing with Nokia and Microsoft Azure. This innovative solution 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 realizing the full potential of 5G technology.”

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, reiterated the company’s commitment to driving 5G monetization opportunities, stating, “This deployment with our partners, A1 and Microsoft, further demonstrates Nokia’s leadership in network slicing, as well as our mission to help our customers unlock further 5G monetization opportunities.”

Silvia Candiani, Vice President of Telecommunications and Media at Microsoft, emphasized the collaboration’s significance, affirming, “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 solution providers to help drive new monetization efforts.”