Techno-Economic Study of 5G Network Slicing to Improve Rural Connectivity in India

Abstract

Around 40% of the world's population is currently without access to the internet. The digital divide is due to the high cost of provisioning these services and the low return on investment for network operators. We propose using 5G network slicing with multi-tenancy (also known as neutral host networks (NHN)) for macro-cells and small cells in rural areas to reduce the costs. This paper investigates the techno-economic feasibility of using rural 5G NHN to minimise the digital divide.A generic model is developed to analyse the techno-economic analysis of 5G NHN deployment around the world, with a special focus on rural areas where no MNO is interested in providing services. To understand the application, it is applied to the Indian scenario. First, a discussion on existing infrastructure, competition and statistics for Indian telecommunications is presented. Next, the technical requirements are analysed using the key performance indicators (KPI) required for the rural 5G NHN for the Indian scenario. The study also analyses the relationship between coverage, investment in the network, the number of subscribers, investment time, demand, the investment per user and sensitivity analysis to understand the feasibility of the proposed solution for Indian villages with different input conditions. Later, a case study is carried out based on the proposed approach, along with coverage modelling for a few Indian villages having different topologies. The results show that 5G NHN using network slicing can significantly reduce the total investment required for providing 5G services in rural areas. Furthermore, the study shows that rural 5G NHN is a viable investment and a key enabler for internet connectivity for villages with 10-year investment, having a subscribers' base as low as 100 with a customer growth rate of 7%.

Sensitivity Options of 5G Non-Standalone Deployment Strategies: A Simulation Model for Emerging Countries

“…The economic aspect determines whether a business is worthy of running, and decisions are taken based on a process of technical and economic calculations. The economic aspect is carried out in several stages: cost structure, feasibility, and sensitivity calculations so that businesses can estimate and avoid losses [9]. First, the cost structure is divided into CAPEX and OPEX.…”

“…On the contrary, the proposed investment does not represent a financially prudent course of action if its estimated internal rate of return fails to surpass the prevailing market interest rate. The IRR value can be obtained by using Equation (9).…”

Techno-economic assessment of 5G infrastructure sharing business models in rural areas

“…While capital intensive to build greenfield assets, the network operator does have flexibility in what to deploy as no legacy systems are present. However, decisions need to select the most suitable and cost-efficient technology to deploy to support their requirements (ITU, 2022;Simon, 2022) Assessments indicate that the majority of global people already live within reach of existing mobile infrastructure (Shruthi et al, 2021;Oughton, 2023). However, huge coverage and capacity problems exist due to users being under-served.…”

“…In the NHN case, the approach supports MNOs, private networks, ISPs, and other potential tenants to co-exist without interfering with each other's operations. Studies have shown that horizontal slices support use cases while vertical slices support multi-tenancy (Kaloxylos, 2018;Lee et al, 2019;Shruthi et al, 2021).…”

“…More often, it is the rural and remote areas that experience poor broadband services, if coverage is even offered at all. Rural Internet connectivity remains limited for various reasons including monetary, policy, regulatory, and technological constraints (Frias et al, 2020;Shruthi et al, 2021). Thus, building wireless broadband infrastructure is a pressing economic development issue (Freeman et al, 2016;Chen et al, 2023).…”