Airtel's introduction of 5G network slicing opens up telecom revenue to differentiate service delivery against commoditised data volume that tends to encourage price wars. This is a tech breakthrough for the telecom industry that has struggled with low tariffs and high spectrum charges. Dividing a single telecom network into multiple virtual slices allows operators to charge premiums for attributes such as speed, latency and security. The customisation assists in recovery of investments made into upgrading networks and speeds up transition to 6G telecom services. Airtel's rival Jio is in the process of rolling out similar services. This should transform Indian 5G networks into service delivery models.

This new service offers assurances against network congestion. It creates consumer tiers that can be extended to services such as live streaming and cloud gaming. The idea is to partition networks on the fly for specific events like cricket matches to monetise surges in local demand. Another way to slice telecom networks is to offer dedicated virtual networks for select industry needs like smart cities and autonomous vehicles. Other ways of going about it include offering tailored solutions to businesses that operate their own internal networks.

As telecom networks become smart, AI will predict traffic patterns to configure slices optimised in real time. Enterprises will also acquire the flexibility to lease slices dedicated to specific computing, storage and security. More efficient telecom networks will pull down pricing of radio frequencies. Newer generations of telecom services will take AI-optimised networks as the foundation for reliable low-latency high-throughput communication. ML models are already delivering extraordinary gains in network performance. 5G network slicing is the testing ground for hyper-connected networks in the pipeline, and India should be at the frontline of available service delivery. Slicing is a fork on the road of telecom network evolution. It is heartening to note we have reached it.