The Potential Short- and Long-Term Disruptions and Transformative Impacts of 5G and Beyond Wireless Networks: Lessons Learnt from the Development of a 5G Testbed Environment

The capacity and coverage requirements for 5th generation (5G) and beyond wireless connectivity will be significantly different from the predecessor networks. To meet these requirements, the anticipated deployment cost in the United Kingdom (UK) is predicted to be
between £30bn and £50bn, whereas the current annual capital expenditure (CapEX) of the mobile
network operators (MNOs) is £2.5bn. This prospect has vastly impacted and has become one of
the major delaying factors for building the 5G physical infrastructure, whereas other areas of
5G are progressing at their speed. Due to the expensive and complicated nature of the network
infrastructure and spectrum, the second-tier operators, widely known as mobile virtual network
operators (MVNO), are entirely dependent on the MNOs. In this paper, an extensive study is
conducted to explore the possibilities of reducing the 5G deployment cost and developing viable
business models. In this regard, the potential of infrastructure, data, and spectrum sharing is
thoroughly investigated. It is established that the use of existing public infrastructure (e.g.,
streetlights, telephone poles, etc.) has a potential to reduce the anticipated cost by about 40%
to 60%. This paper also reviews the recent Ofcom initiatives to release location-based licenses
of the 5G-compatible radio spectrum. Our study suggests that simplification of infrastructure
and spectrum will encourage the exponential growth of scenario-specific cellular networks (e.g.,
private networks, community networks, micro-operators) and will potentially disrupt the current
business models of telecommunication business stakeholders – specifically MNOs and TowerCos.
Furthermore, the anticipated dense device connectivity in 5G will increase the resolution of
traditional and non-traditional data availability significantly. This will encourage extensive data
harvesting as a business opportunity and function within small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) as well as large social networks. Consequently, the rise of new infrastructures and spectrum stakeholders is anticipated. This will fuel the development of a 5G data exchange ecosystem where data transactions are deemed to be high-value business commodities. The privacy and security of such data, as well as definitions of the associated revenue models and ownership, are challenging areas – and these have yet to emerge and mature fully. In this direction, this paper proposes the development of a unified data hub with layered structured privacy and security along with blockchain and encrypted off-chain based ownership/royalty tracking. Also, a data economy-oriented business model is proposed. The study found that with the potential commodification of data and data transactions along with the low-cost physical infrastructure and spectrum, the 5G network will introduce significant disruption in the Telco business ecosystem.