One possible conclusion we might draw from the robust activity in the U.S. C-band auction is that major mobile service providers continue to base their network plans on licensed spectrum. Use of unlicensed spectrum remains important, but it does not appear any major service providers will deviate from historic patterns.
What remains to be seen are possible uses of network slicing features of 5G networks by specialized and smaller providers. In principle, at least, a network slice could form the national backbone and access network for a specialized enterprise network using 5G access.
Also, in principle, such an enterprise user could be a wholesale customer running a 5G network of its own, much as a mobile virtual network operator buys wholesale capacity from a facilities-based mobile operator.
As always, cost matters. It may well turn out that buying a network slice is an uneconomical way to support the transport and access functions of a custom 5G network. As it simply makes more sense for an application provider to use “any available access connection” to support users, so it may not make any sense for an app provider to spend capital on the access infrastructure.
Still, it remains conceptually possible for a smaller mobile service provider to consider network slicing an alternative to purchasing wholesale capacity from a facilities-based service provider. Whether there are feature or cost advantages remains to be seen.
What seems more likely are uses of network slices to support custom services supplied on a turnkey basis to end users, especially those with latency-performance requirements.
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