Going into greater detail, a BT spokesperson said: “During the two-week trial, a dedicated slice of the EE 5G network was partitioned for use in the renowned Lavery’s Beer Tent. [This was] to support eight mobile payment terminals, enabling super-fast card and mobile payments for thousands of customers, even during the market’s busiest periods.”
BT Group launched its 5G Standalone offer last September. It describes network slicing as “providing customers with a protected ‘slice’ of the network for assured performance, boosting connectivity speeds and lowering latency by minimising congestion and unlocking bespoke capacity for businesses.”
The Christmas market takes place at Belfast City Hall, welcoming - according to BT - up to 1.2 million visitors each year. Lavery’s is the city’s oldest family-owned pub.
BT Group Northern Ireland director, Paul Murnaghan, said: “Businesses increasingly rely on technology that’s able to cope with the demands of the ever-pervasive digital world, securely. We have all visited a retailer and had the awkward ‘wait while we check’ to see if a payment has been completed correctly.
“Network slicing helps tackle this problem by enabling consistently fast and smooth connectivity, critically giving certainty to both traders and customers even when the network is busy in specific locations like Belfast Christmas Market.”
Director of Lavery’s, Bernard Lavery, said: "Lavery’s is as synonymous with Belfast Christmas market as it is with the city itself. The need to enable fast and reliable mobile payments has only grown thanks to the growing trend towards cashless.
“BT Group's network slicing capability therefore gives us so much peace of mind, not only in enabling transactions to be completed faster than ever, but also in delivering the dedicated mobile capacity needed to keep our customers happy and queues moving even at the busiest times.”
Belfast was one of fifteen launch cities for EE 5G Standalone last September.
