Verizon recently announced the expansion of the Verizon Frontline Network Slice, making the 5G network-slicing technology available on laptops, tablets and smartphones used by public-safety users who are subscribed to the Verizon Frontline system.
Verizon Frontline Vice President Cory Davis noted that the carrier launched 5G network slicing last year, but last week’s announcement represents a significant change from the limited types of devices that were supported by Verizon’s network slicing 12 months ago.
“From a device perspective, we’ve been kind of slow rolling the technology [network slicing],” Davis said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “We launched back in April 2025 with the routers—think of a connected-vehicle or police-cruiser type of use case.
“Today, we’ve extended that out to phones, laptops and tablets. So now, pretty much all of our devices—from a mobility perspective—are now enabled with the Frontline Network Slice.”
One benefit of the Verizon Frontline Network Slice is that public-safety subscribers using the service are guaranteed bandwidth on the carrier’s 5G Ultra Wideband virtual network, although Davis said the minimum data speeds for first responders will not be the same throughout the U.S.
“We reserve a percentage [for Verizon Frontline subscribers],” Davis said. “We have dedicated capacity at every site exclusively just for first responders, so that they never have to compete with commercial users [for network resources] during these massive events and emergencies.
“We had it at the Boston Marathon on Monday [April 20], and we got some fantastic results and feedback. So, we’re feeling really good about at least that one aspect of it—the dedicated capacity.”
Massimo Peselli, chief revenue officer for the Verizon Business Global Enterprise and Public Sector, echoed this sentiment.
“By extending our network-slicing capabilities directly to the devices in the hands of our nation’s first responders, we are able to provide dedicated network resources for their most critical data,” Peselli said in a prepared statement. “This helps ensure that life-saving applications perform at their peak, even in the most crowded or congested environments.”
Part of the 3GPP 5G standard, dynamic radio resource partitioning (DRRP)—the technology that enables network slicing—can be activated only in locations where the user’s carrier has deployed 5G standalone (5G SA) technology, which does not utilize any 4G network components. Verizon continues to expand its 5G SA coverage, which already serves enough of the population to be considered nationwide, according to Davis.
“If you’re in the standalone-network coverage area, you get the full features: the slice, the DRRP, and you also get the QPP—the priority, the preemption, the quality of service,” he said. “What’s great is that, when you fall back out of an SA [5G standalone] environment and back into a non-standalone [coverage area], you retain the priority, preemption and quality of service.
“That all gets retained, whether you are in SA or non-standalone. The only difference is that you get that dedicated capacity when you’re on the standalone network. “
In addition to a Verizon Frontline user being located within a 5G SA coverage footprint, the user also must access the network with a 5G device, Davis said.
“The biggest challenge is probably—from an agency perspective—having the latest hardware and chipset equipment,” Davis said. “The agencies are kind of on tight budgets, and they usually have a five-year cycle [for procuring new equipment]. A lot of agencies still have LTE equipment, so helping them evolve and navigate their transformation … is probably the bigger challenge.”
Davis said that the Verizon Frontline network slice is different from other carriers’ priority-and-preemption offerings to public-safety entities.
“I think is really, really important for folks to understand is that this is also an end-to-end solution and that we’re isolating the traffic,” Davis said. “What the slice does is it provide a fully isolated Ultra Wideband slice. We’re basically creating a network inside of our 5G network that’s just for public safety.
“You hear about a lot a dedicated core or a dedicated this [or that]. Well, I would say that this essentially is the next version of that, because now we can basically create a network within a network. And with that, you still get always-on priority, preemption, and the enhanced quality of service on the uplink and downlink to make sure that they can communicate securely.
“As you know, a lot of these services—like priority and preemption—can be best-effort, once it hits the RAN. But this Verizon Frontline network slice is a true end-to-end solution … You get that treatment throughout, as long as you’re on the Verizon network.”
Source: https://urgentcomm.com/broadband/verizon-frontline-expands-5g-network-slicing-device-support
