The critical role of the sliceable platform in 5G monetisation

Free perspective

Many operators in developed mobile markets have started to deploy 5G networks commercially. However, the second phase of roll-outs will represent a critical juncture for operators’ 5G business models. This phase includes the migration to 5G New Radio standalone (NR SA) networks, which will enable a far wider range of services, user experiences and pricing options than the current non-standalone (NSA) networks, which rely on the 4G core.

In contrast with previous mobile generations, the most critical element will not be the RAN itself, but a fully virtualised, sliceable 5G core, which can support a host of applications and industries in an agile way, thereby revolutionising an operator’s 5G business opportunity. This will be the keystone of a 5G platform strategy and will recast the network as a set of configurable, programmable functions running on cloud infrastructure. This, together with a common, open framework of developer tools, services and application programming interfaces (APIs) will enable an endless variety of services to be launched as the market requires.