The latest iteration of the Ericsson Mobility Report highlighted that the number of commercially available offerings based on 5G standalone (SA) network slicing had reached 84 (out of a total of 151), up from 65 (out of 118) six months previously, with European operators accounting for 34 or 35 of these offerings.
Indeed, the June 2026 report noted that network slicing-based offers are now moving from early adoption to mainstream commercialization, although operators often still have to align marketing and go-to-market strategies to ensure such services can be scaled.
The latest European operator to offer a commercial network slicing service is BT-owned EE. The Fast Lane option aims to provide dedicated 5G SA connectivity to consumers and small businesses at busy times on the network.
EE says Fast Lane works by anticipating network congestion and moving customer connections into a dedicated section of its 5G SA network (branded 5G+). The move comes after two years of trials at events and venues including Wembley Stadium, Belfast Christmas Market, Sail GP in Portsmouth, the BAFTAs and the Royal Welsh Show 2026.
Fast Lane costs an additional £5 per month and comes with the new EE Full Works Plus plan. Small enterprises can also sign up for the service through the EE Full Works business plan.
EE is of course not alone in launching 5G network slicing services. In addition, its offer can be categorized as a “boost” service, which Ericsson says applies to the majority of B2C offerings.
Here, the report notes that while 5G SA is used to deliver performance improvement, such “boost” services are typically too generic to address any specific needs of most consumers or businesses, and “mostly become ‘just another G’ type of offering. The exceptions are more targeted offerings – focusing on gaming, live event connectivity, video calling and premium FWA tiers.” It adds that most new offers are for the B2B segment.
Worth noting, however, is that EE Business trialled network slicing at the Belfast Christmas Market in 2024 to keep payment terminals working. Here, slicing was certainly used to solve a specific customer problem.
Elsewhere in the UK, in April Vodafone Business launched 5G+ Local Slicing to enterprise customers, giving businesses access to their own dedicated slice of its mobile network with guaranteed local performance.
Slicing it up
As Ericsson’s report indicates, a fair few commercial 5G network slicing offers are now knocking around, with more to come. It cites a total of 14 new trials and proofs of concept, of which 57% are taking place in Europe.
In addition, about half are venturing into use cases outside of the existing commercial cases. These include slicing for self-driving trucks on public roads and autonomous drone systems, along with various advanced public safety and defense applications.
Examples of recent launches in Europe include Proximus in Belgium, which in June activated three 5G network slices at a single location during the national soccer team’s international friendly against Tunisia. One slice was dedicated to medical assistance, one to media coverage and one to support mobile payments.
In January, WindTre launched its 5G SA network in Italy. It also announced a network slicing service for small and medium-sized businesses that enables them to create virtual private networks to support business-critical applications.
In 2025, new slicing services were launched by operators including Elisa in Finland, Orange France and OTE in Greece. For instance, Elisa’s service supports premium connectivity, enterprise and industrial use cases and fixed wireless access (FWA) services.
Orange has been particularly prolific, meanwhile. In 2024 it started using its 5G SA network to underpin a FWA service for residential customers called 5G+ Home. Then in 2025 it began offering dedicated bandwidth for SME and enterprise customers.
The France-based group has also used network slicing to support mobile payments at the Orange Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, where the operator conducts many of its 5G SA trials.
The Deutsche Telekom (DT) Group has also been active in slicing, with some commercial launches to date. For instance, OTE in Greece has launched 5G+ Priority Pass for temporary access to a dedicated slice and Cosmote 5G WiFi FWA.
In Germany, DT has focused on supporting gaming services with the “5G+ Gaming” slice proposition. Meanwhile Vodafone Germany launched a 5G network slice service for enterprises in Germany called Campus Flex in August.
As the Ericsson report suggests, many more commercial offers are now available. And operators are also exploring ways to further automate how network slices can be generated.
As the number of 5G SA network launches nears the 100 mark globally (latest estimates put it at up to 95 globally), more operators are now in a position to launch services based on network slicing.
However, technology on its own is not enough: telcos also need to be able to demonstrate to consumers and enterprises that these services will bring tangible benefits. For instance, the Ericsson report notes that app-integrated offers are shown to be up to 20 times more effective than any other marketing channel.
