LVGP proves 5G SA with network slicing, edge video, and mission‑critical services
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is more than a spectacle this year—it’s a real-world benchmark for what 5G Standalone can deliver under extreme density, with T-Mobile integrating slicing, private 5G, and edge video into broadcast, venue ops, and public safety workflows.
Managing crowd-scale demand with deterministic 5G networking
Formula 1 race week compresses huge uplink and downlink demand into a few square miles, testing cellular capacity, latenc,y and reliability in ways lab trials cannot. What is different this year is the use of 5G SA slicing to segregate traffic for first responders, point-of-sale, and media, alongside a private 5G segment for production-grade video. It showcases how operators can move from best-effort mobile broadband to deterministic network experiences tailored to critical applications.
From demos to production 5G workflows
Unlike past event “tech demos,” several of these capabilities now sit in the production path. Broadcast teams are ingesting 360-degree and drone feeds over 5G with edge processing, venue commerce runs on a dedicated slice, and police leverage a 5G-connected drone for situational awareness. That is a meaningful step toward operationalizing 5G revenue beyond consumer data plans.
What T-Mobile deployed at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
The operator stitched together public 5G SA, private 5G and edge software to serve discrete use cases with different quality needs.
Private 5G and edge control for immersive broadcast
T-Mobile Advanced Network Solutions underpins a private 5G setup that connects roaming trackside cameras and a fixed 360-degree unit at a key turn, plus a 5G-enabled drone for aerials. A new edge control capability enables ultra-low-latency switching and contribution across the venue, delivering broadcast-grade video without laying temporary fiber. This reduces setup complexity while giving producers flexible camera placement and faster reconfiguration during live sessions.
5G network slicing for public safety, ticketing, and media
On the public network, T-Mobile’s 5G SA slicing is used to prioritize traffic for first responders via its T-Priority service. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is also piloting a 5G-connected drone to stream HD overwatch video for faster incident response. Separately, LVGP’s ticket scanning and payments run on a slice engineered for stability and capacity, minimizing queue delays. Media teams use another slice for rapid content backhaul, replacing many tethered or microwave links with controlled-latency 5G uplinks. Event staff communication is anchored by mission-critical push-to-talk to keep operations coordinated from setup to checkered flag.
SuperMobile with satellite backup for field continuity
T-Mobile is extending its SuperMobile business phone solution to race operations, combining nationwide slicing on 5G SA, enterprise-grade security, and satellite-to-mobile augmentation. The goal is continuity: sustain connectivity in high-traffic zones and add a sky-based safety net in hard-to-reach areas, so coordinators and field teams retain voice, messaging and data when they need it most.
Business impact for operators and enterprises
These deployments illustrate a practical blueprint for monetizing 5G SA and edge in venues, media, public safety and large events.
Evidence of 5G SA monetization beyond eMBB
Network slicing mapped to real workflows—POS, ticketing, MCx, and live media—creates identifiable service tiers and potential SLAs. Pairing public 5G SA with private 5G and edge orchestration aligns to 3GPP Release 16+ capabilities and PNI-NPN models, making it repeatable in stadiums, airports, campuses and city events. The “first commercial” use of edge control for video contribution is a signal that operators can compete in contribution transport with cloud-managed, mobile-first workflows.
Fan engagement as a data and revenue product
The official F1 Las Vegas app serves as a trackside companion with 360 tours and instant replays, and T-Mobile layers in exclusive views for its subscribers. For venues and sponsors, this is a model for turning connectivity into engagement, data and loyalty—fuel for upsell and cross-sell—while also creating demand signals that can dynamically adjust slice policies during peak moments.
Key technical takeaways for 5G SA and edge
The LVGP deployment surfaces practical lessons in QoS, observability and resilience when bridging public and private 5G domains.
Achieving determinism with rigorous policy and telemetry
Achieving consistent QoS across public SA slices and private 5G segments depends on device support for slicing, tight policy control, and end-to-end visibility into latency, jitter and packet loss. Integrating edge applications for video switching increases sensitivity to micro-outages, so per-flow prioritization, localized failover and rapid re-route are essential. Operators and venues should align slice intents with application KPIs, not just radio metrics.
5G-connected drones for public safety: benefits and constraints
Embedding 5G in UAVs improves uplink video quality and coverage continuity compared with ad hoc Wi‑Fi, and can accelerate incident triage. However, agencies must plan for spectrum resilience, command-and-control redundancy, and compliance with aviation and local privacy rules. Encoding choices, uplink headroom and prioritization policies all materially impact performance in congested airspace.
Risks and open challenges
Executives should calibrate expectations on ecosystem readiness, security, and repeatable economics.
Device support and application integration gaps
Not all handsets and field devices support 5G SA slicing, and roaming or tethering can negate slice guarantees. Application pathways must be engineered to honor QoS end-to-end, including CDN, edge functions, and cloud ingest. Thorough pre-event testing with production apps is non-negotiable.
Built-in security, privacy and compliance
Mixed public and private environments expand the attack surface, especially when tying POS, medi,a and public safety into shared infrastructure. Apply zero-trust controls, least-privilege for edge workloads, rigorous key management, and compliance mapping for mission-critical services aligned to 3GPP MCX profiles and applicable regulatory frameworks.
Economics depend on repeatability
Event densification and edge deployments can be capital-intensive if they are one-offs. The business case strengthens when operators productize “event-in-a-box” offers—predefined slices, edge apps and support tiers—and when venues integrate them into year-round operations to amortize costs.
Next steps and recommendations
Both operators and enterprises can turn these lessons into actionable plans for 2026 budgets and roadmaps.
For operators: productize slicing and edge
Package commercial SA slicing tiers with clear KPIs and APIs, and pair them with edge video and MCx for venue and city events. Build portable, pre-certified playbooks for ticketing/POS, media contribution and public safety, including site surveys, device catalogs and rehearsals. Add satellite augmentation policies for priority users and document measurable continuity gains.
For venues and enterprises: pilot PNI-NPN with SLAs
Pilot PNI-NPN models with your operator for commerce, staff comms, and media, and require application-level SLAs, observability and rollback plans. Validate device compatibility for slicing and MCPTT, test redundancy paths, and harden zero-trust controls at the edge. Use event apps to capture engagement data that can inform dynamic policy—prioritizing bandwidth where it drives revenue or safety.
Companies, technologies, and standards
Clarity on the ecosystem helps decision makers map vendor and standards choices to outcomes.
Companies and agencies involved
T-Mobile (Advanced Network Solutions, SuperMobile), Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Sphere, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department are central to this deployment, with content experiences delivered through the official F1 Las Vegas app.
Core technologies and 3GPP standards
5G Standalone, network slicing (3GPP Release 16+), private 5G, public network integrated non‑public networks, multi-access edge computing, mission-critical push-to-talk, 360-degree and drone video contribution, and satellite-to-mobile connectivity form the core stack demonstrated at LVGP.
