- Verizon Business is rolling out FWA on a slice
- This is yet another sign that slicing is taking off in the U.S.
- Recon Analytics Daryl Schoolar noted that Verizon may have started offering it in select markets because it hasn't deployed C-Band 5G in certain areas yet
Verizon Business is combining fixed wireless access (FWA), one of the most popular aspects of 5G, with one of its most maligned features — network slicing.
By moving FWA business internet traffic onto a 5G slice, Verizon said that it can offer the performance consistency to provide service-level agreements (SLAs) and the enhanced uplink capacity for upload-heavy cloud and AI-driven workloads.
The FWA slice is focused on providing better uplink connections for AI tasks. "As businesses take on AI-centric workloads (e.g. inferencing at the edge), they are now uploading more data than ever before," said Scott Lawrence, chief product officer at Verizon Business in a statement. "They’re capturing huge amounts of data from their operating environments (central or remote), uploading it into their systems, and transferring it into cloud instances and software platforms for AI-driven insights and generative actions."
Slicing a-go-go
T-Mobile made most of the running in network slicing in the U.S. in 2025 because it had the 5G standalone (5G SA) core in place to support it. Verizon and AT&T only switched on their 5G SA cores in the autumn of this year, although Verizon started launching slices for first responders as soon as it was able.
2026 will — finally! — see all three major mobile network operators launch their own nationwide network slices.
"I fully expect to see more 'network slice' offerings from all three major mobile network operators in 2026," Recon Analytics analyst Daryl Schoolar commented to Fierce.
"I anticipate that by 2026, most operators will offer select slice options similar to T-Mobile’s SuperMobile, which includes T-SASE, T-Priority, and their private slicing solutions for major events," said AvidThink principal Roy Chua. "For Verizon and AT&T, these capabilities will depend on 5G SA (and the appropriate backend in OSS and BSS) and will likely be deployed on a market-by-market basis."
Pioneer markets
Verizon said that it is initially offering the FWA slice in select markets to begin with, which, according to Schoolar noted could be because they don’t have enough C-Band spectrum deployed in every market to support the new service.
"It also makes sense that Verizon’s 5G SA rollout takes a value and demand-based approach starting in markets where network slicing-based services will yield monetization and return," neXt Curve analyst Leonard Lee said.
"In this regard, FWA for business, essentially virtual private wireless networks with SLAs, is a sensible service to kick things off with network slicing in these pioneer markets," Lee concluded.