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pool their assets and outsource the management components available for use by many players in
and operation of their shared network to a the smart city ecosystem. Chapter 2
third-party manager. This can be an attractive
arrangement, as it removes aspects of trust issues It won’t just be access to infrastructure that will
that can sometimes complicate joint ventures. need to be shared in smart cities. Data sharing and
access will also play critical roles, and clear rules
More commonly, arrangements for the and even regulatory intervention may be needed.
management and operation of RAN, core and For example, in the context of a smart emergency
transmission networks are entered into with services solution, energy utilities may need to
individual operators (about 25 per cent of share smart-grid data with emergency services
operators have entered into these arrangements). agencies so that they can respond immediately
Equipment vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent, – or even pre-emptively – to power outages or
Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, Nokia, Huawei and KT Corp power-related emergencies on the basis of that
provide various types of third-party outsourcing data.
products that may be suitable in a network-sharing
environment.
2.8.2 Virtualization of core network
The involvement of a third party will reduce the infrastructure
savings available to the sharing parties and may
result in SLA-driven control of that third party. Telecommunication operators can be expected
Outsourcing to a third party also involves loss of to increasingly use cloud-based infrastructure
competence within the operator’s organization, for their data centre, platform or application
which can have long-term implications. requirements. This is a form of sharing, as logical
separation through virtualization will make it
possible for core network infrastructure and
2.8 Future applications of sharing and functions to sit on physical infrastructure that is
co-investment used by other parties, including other operators.

This section explores some of the forward-looking
applications of the network-sharing and co- 2.8.3 Dynamic spectrum sharing
investment model, such as for "smart cities" or
dynamic spectrum sharing. Spectrum sharing is likely to feature increasingly
in RAN and optical fibres (dynamic wavelength
allocation). Traditionally, mobile network operators
2.8.1 Smart city environments have been reluctant to consider spectrum pooling,
or sharing of spectrum between operators,
Extensive and ubiquitous high-speed connectivity because they seek to maintain maximum flexibility
is a key enabler for the success of so-called smart to manage their networks. Also, frequency
cities. Telecommunication operators have the allocations are often not equal. India, for example,
opportunity to provide connectivity solutions that does permit some RAN spectrum sharing, but it is
will go beyond fixed and mobile broadband. They not permitted in many countries.
will include proximity connectivity using WiFi, NFC,
Bluetooth, RFID and the like. There will also be a Up until now – and for the foreseeable future,
need for other progressive connectivity solutions. realistically – governments allocate spectrum
mainly on a dedicated basis. This has allowed
Governments, operators, utilities and private operators to use higher-power equipment,
entities will need to share and provide access to with resulting wider coverage, while limiting
key infrastructure needed for the proliferation of interference. The exception has been unlicensed
smart city solutions, such as access to buildings, spectrum, which used by (among other things)
cabinets and light poles. Sensors and other smart Wi-Fi networks.
components may need to be installed in strategic
locations that are owned by multiple parties, and Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) technologies allow
it may make sense to make those sensors and devices to use spectrum where it is not being used
in a particular geographic area, or at a particular

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