Edge and 5G Network Slicing are Supposed to Control Latency, Reduce Bandwidth Demand: Will They Always?

Electronic newsgathering and remote capture of distributed video feeds have been use cases that often require specialized backhaul networks, such as fixed wireless microwave-equipped vans or satellite links on those vans. 

In other cases, where venues are fixed, such as sports stadiums or concert venues, dedicated optical backhaul connections often can be used. 

Remote backhaul of video feeds are one possible use of network slices on 5G networks, Ericsson and others might note. 

source: Ericsson 

Such use cases also might highlight a shift in expected new revenue sources for 5G and possibly 6G and future networks. At least so far, fixed wireless has been the clear early driver of new revenue on 5G networks that can be clearly attributed to the network itself, and that is a business-to-business or business-to-consumer use case. 

For consumers, 5G has actually supplied benefits mostly in the area of “faster connection speed.” But that might be the case for most consumer 5G value for some time, and perhaps for the whole duration of 5G use as the primary mobile network.

Early speculation about 6G centers on new or exotic apps, but might similarly result in new use cases emerging in the business and enterprise spheres, while consumer benefits largely remain driven by faster speeds and lower latency. 

And users might need both, especially if use of virtual private networks increases. The issue with VPNs, as users quickly find out, is a hit to performance. Though the rule of thumb is that VPNs can reduce experienced connection speed by 10 percent to 20 percent, I have found that speeds can be reduced as much as 50 percent or more. 

It is unclear to me whether the VPN speed tax can be eliminated (I cannot see this happening) or vastly reduced, when using a 5G network slice. In principle, a network slice would have to increase processing, which would add some latency, and also reduce connection speed, as do all other VPNs.  

The good news for remote video backhaul is that latency is not an issue for non-real-time or real-time video that is streamed, once the steam is launched. So long as the connection has enough capacity, the VPN-imposed processing should not be a troublesome issue, either. 

That might not be the case for latency-sensitive, highly-interactive sessions, however. Which is ironic, if you consider the amount of hype about network slicing and its ability to control and limit latency and also provide guaranteed bandwidth.