5G slices are a net neutrality loophole, critics argue

There are growing concerns among some lobbyists that 5G network operators will be able to use network slicing technology to evade the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) proposed net neutrality rules. Some claim that network slicing will establish Internet "fast lanes." "Mobile ISPs and their trade associations are pushing the FCC to let them create new kinds of fast lanes by using a network management technique known as 'network slicing,'" wrote a group of public interest groups—including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Technology Institute at New America, and Public Knowledge—in a new filing with the FCC. "They are asking the FCC to let them treat these new fast lanes as 'specialized services' that are largely exempt from net neutrality rules." Those public interest groups aren't the only ones sounding the alarm. "The commission should not allow network slicing to be used to evade any Open Internet rules it adopts," wrote the NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, a trade group representing the nation's cable companies.