NSA and SA represent fundamentally different strategies for bringing 5G to market. NSA leverages existing LTE infrastructure for a rapid launch. Operators simply add gNBs to their current eNB sites and connect them to the existing EPC. The initial capital outlay is lower and the time to market is measured in months rather than years. However, NSA is limited to providing an eMBB throughput boost with no support for slicing, and latency remains constrained by the LTE anchor leg. Most Tier-1 operators worldwide chose this path for their initial 5G launch between 2019 and 2021.