Mark Lowenstein from Mobile Ecosystem recently took the time to outline the Shared Spectrum market opportunity for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). The resulting whitepaper outlines how MNOs will benefit from the spectrum-sharing market.
- Revenue enhancement. Either directly through traditional service plans or indirectly, with more data staying “on-net.”
- Speed of deployment. Incentive auctions, like the 600 MHz currently in progress, can take years for the spectrum to become available for commercial use. This model presents a way for network extension to be much more expedient.
- Cost savings. Historically, operators have employed expensive DAS or carrier Wi-Fi solutions. This presents the possibility for a more cost-effective, ‘on-demand’ service model.
- Quality control. Operators can extend the high quality of experience built into LTE, rather than relinquish it to the vagaries of Wi-Fi.
- Competitive advantage. A high capacity, quality coverage LTE network that can be extended indoors offers MNOs a competitive advantage in network capabilities over other cellular operators who aren’t using shared spectrum and could help gain share in the enterprise segment. Shared Spectrum would help MNOs keep traffic on their network, which is important given the increased competition from cable MSOs, cloud providers, and so on.
At least at the outset, MNOs will be leading the spectrum-sharing market. And, in doing so, they will also be opening up spectrum-sharing opportunities in the enterprise and at venues, as well as a number of other more traditional telecommunications markets. If you’d like to learn more, please download the whitepaper.
