It has been over two months since the Federal Communication Commission announced it would re-establish open internet rules, better known as net neutrality regulations. Since then, much ink has been spilled describing the many problems that imposing 1930s utility-style regulations on the broadband market would create. However, not enough has been written about how these regulations will undermine network customization, specifically network slicing.
Network slicing is a new and innovative virtual network architecture that “allows multiple virtual networks to be created on top of a common shared physical infrastructure.” It grants operators the ability to create dedicated virtual networks with “functionality specific to the service or customer over a common network.” This facilitates greater customization so that virtual networks can be tailored to the unique needs of customers and the growing assortment of network services they demand.
The ability to partition networks is essential because different use cases (scenarios in which a product or service can be used) place different performance requirements on networks regarding capacity, connectivity, speed and more. One slice may be used to operate autonomous machinery on a factory floor while another is used to monitor city vehicle traffic, and still another is used to provide real-time video transmission to emergency services. The options are limitless.
In addition, since each slice of the network acts as a separate physical network, there is no possibility of network interference. This enhances the quality of service for customers and lowers the risk of launching future services. The isolation also provides security benefits since the damage caused by a cyberattack is more likely to be contained to an individual slice.
Network slicing holds significant potential for 5G technology, in particular. Whereas earlier generations of cellular networks could support network slicing only to a limited degree, network slicing is a crucial feature of 5G, giving providers the unprecedented opportunity to dedicate specific network slices to an ever-growing number of use cases.
Many companies are already busy taking advantage of this new framework to diversify their product offerings and offer new services to consumers and customers. For instance, T-Mobile is already experimenting with network slicing to streamline control robotics, improve communication at power plants, and help utilities embrace cost-efficient smart grid technology.
Unfortunately, network slicing’s unique features make it vulnerable to the FCC’s new rule. While the commission does not explicitly mention network slicing by name, it does allude to it when it references “new network architectures” and emerging “uses of technology.” The commission also asks whether these emerging network architectures and technologies are “best viewed as enterprise services” that should be excluded from the scope of the commission’s open internet rules. However, if these services are included in these rules, they will be subject to the same innovation-killing regulations that reclassification entails.
The FCC has made it abundantly clear that one of its primary interests in restoring net neutrality regulations is safeguarding and securing the open internet by requiring internet providers to treat all internet data traveling across their networks equally. This would appear to bar the types of innovative offerings that network slicing makes possible. Network slicing, by its very nature, treats data traffic differently. Indeed, the success of network slicing depends on operators’ ability to customize different slices of the network. Restricting this freedom will prevent them from effectively managing their networks and accommodating user preferences for differentiated services.
Modern networks require great flexibility, and network slicing helps make that possible. By limiting differentiation, the FCC risks stifling this promising innovation. Therefore, the commission should refrain from imposing top-down, utility-style regulations that are certain to produce unintended consequences.
