The network slicing market may surpass US$600 million in 6 years

Network slicing is defined as the logical differentiation of a single wireless network into sets based on different use-cases. It may become necessary in order to, for example, prevent the bandwidth being devoted to the control of self-driving cars suddenly draining thanks to competing demands from, say, extended reality (XR) applications acting on the same source of connectivity.

Therefore, network slicing has found a lucrative role in the overall 4G space, and, thus, may do even better business as 5G becomes more widespread and prevalent. It can be used to sustain numerous applications or use-cases, IoT and edge included, on the same infrastructure.

Accordingly, the technique already has many different sub-types, such as the Cellular V2X (C-V2X) technology specifically directed at automotive slicing. It came in handy in the course of a 2018 South Korean project on a 45-seat bus that was auto-piloted and programmed to navigate obstacles via 5G and network slicing.

On that note, it may be necessary to slice yet finer so as to cater for IoT of different industrial applications, most notably healthcare, manufacturing, fintech and enterprise. These issues and interests has led to new projections that the network slicing market will easily be worth at least US$600 million by 2026.

This market is currently led by North America in terms of individual regions. Its sector is thought to grow at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 30% until 2026, which is based on a panel of federal initiatives to promote 5G uptake and use. Similarly, the managed services sector (in which network slicing is carried out by a dedicated company or contractor) is thought to have a CAGR of 20% in the US over these next 6 years.