Network slicing is arguably the technology which will make the business case for 5G. But can it be implemented without making a high-stakes early move to a new network? Affirmed Networks, already known for pushing the boundaries of the virtualized evolved packet core (vEPC), says yes, with a new offering based on LTE. Slicing allows an individual service or user to call up a virtualized slice of the network, on-demand, and optimized for its particular requirements for speed, latency, device capacity, security and so on. This would enable network owners to support a far wider range of services, some of them mission critical, without building separate infrastructure or overlays for each one; and to support web-like pay-as-you-go models. Many vendors…