IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v43y2019i73.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A business case for 5G mobile broadband in a dense urban area

Author

Listed:
  • Rendon Schneir, Juan
  • Ajibulu, Ade
  • Konstantinou, Konstantinos
  • Bradford, Julie
  • Zimmermann, Gerd
  • Droste, Heinz
  • Canto, Rafael

Abstract

5G networks are envisioned to provide consumers and industry with improved transmission performance and advanced communication possibilities. To deliver on this promise of ushering in faster downloads and lower latency, mobile network operators are called upon for substantial investment in network infrastructure. Investors and operators need a clear 5G business case before making such investment. So far, very little research has been published on the topic of the 5G business case. This article studies the impact of different elements driving the business case of a 5G network. The study was performed within 3 boroughs of central London, UK, for the period 2020–2030. 5G-related costs and revenues were calculated to derive the business case. The results show that the business case for a 5G network providing mobile broadband services alone is positive over the time period 2020–2030 but has some risk in the later years of this time period. The business case is also particularly sensitive to assumptions on the revenue uplift and the rate of traffic growth which are inherently challenging to forecast. The sensitivity analysis shows that the return on investment becomes negative if both traffic and costs are significantly higher and revenues increase more slowly than our baseline forecasts. Network sharing helps to substantially improve the business case. Further research is needed to understand the business case on a regional or nationwide basis, and for a network that provides additional services beyond broadband.

Suggested Citation

  • Rendon Schneir, Juan & Ajibulu, Ade & Konstantinou, Konstantinos & Bradford, Julie & Zimmermann, Gerd & Droste, Heinz & Canto, Rafael, 2019. "A business case for 5G mobile broadband in a dense urban area," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:43:y:2019:i:7:3
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2019.03.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596118301940
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2019.03.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oughton, Edward J. & Frias, Zoraida, 2018. "The cost, coverage and rollout implications of 5G infrastructure in Britain," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 636-652.
    2. Schneir, Juan Rendon & Konstantinou, Kostas & Bradford, Julie & Zimmermann, Gerd & Droste, Heinz & Canto, Rafael & Ajibulu, Ade, 2017. "Cost Analysis of a 5G Network with Multi-Tenancy Options," 28th European Regional ITS Conference, Passau 2017 169495, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Oughton, Edward J. & Amaglobeli, David & Moszoro, Marian, 2023. "What would it cost to connect the unconnected? Estimating global universal broadband infrastructure investment," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).
    2. Oughton, Edward J. & Comini, Niccolò & Foster, Vivien & Hall, Jim W., 2022. "Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    3. Hoeschele, Thomas & Dietzel, Christoph & Kopp, Daniel & Fitzek, Frank H.P. & Reisslein, Martin, 2021. "Importance of Internet Exchange Point (IXP) infrastructure for 5G: Estimating the impact of 5G use cases," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3).
    4. Edward J. Oughton & William Lehr, 2022. "Surveying 5G Techno-Economic Research to Inform the Evaluation of 6G Wireless Technologies," Papers 2201.02272, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2022.
    5. Gaoyong Li & Xin Zhang & Ge Zhang, 2022. "How the 5G Enabled the COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control: Materiality, Affordance, and (De-)Spatialization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-22, July.
    6. Gaspare D’Amico & Roberta Arbolino & Lei Shi & Tan Yigitcanlar & Giuseppe Ioppolo, 2021. "Digital Technologies for Urban Metabolism Efficiency: Lessons from Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, May.
    7. Benseny, Jaume & Lahteenmaki, Jarno & Toyli, Juuso & Hammainen, Heikki, 2023. "Urban wireless traffic evolution: The role of new devices and the effect of policy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7).
    8. Oughton, Edward J. & Lehr, William & Katsaros, Konstantinos & Selinis, Ioannis & Bubley, Dean & Kusuma, Julius, 2021. "Revisiting Wireless Internet Connectivity: 5G vs Wi-Fi 6," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5).
    9. Jaume Benseny & Jarno Lahteenmaki & Juuso Toyli & Heikki Hammainen, 2023. "Urban wireless traffic evolution: the role of new devices and the effect of policy," Papers 2310.14406, arXiv.org.
    10. Mulligan, Catherine & Morsfield, Suzanne & Cheikosman, Evîn, 2024. "Blockchain for sustainability: A systematic literature review for policy impact," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2).
    11. Ahokangas, Petri & Matinmikko-Blue, Marja & Yrjölä, Seppo & Hämmäinen, Heikki, 2021. "Platform configurations for local and private 5G networks in complex industrial multi-stakeholder ecosystems," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5).
    12. Queder, Fabian & Lehr, William & Haucap, Justus, 2020. "5G and Mobile Broadband Disruption," ITS Conference, Online Event 2020 224872, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    13. Sahebali, M.W.W. & Sadowski, Bert M. & Nomaler, O. & Brennenraedts, R., 2021. "Rolling out of fibre optic networks in intermediate versus urban areas: An exploratory spatial analysis in the Netherlands," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mr. Emre Alper & Michal Miktus, 2019. "Bridging the Mobile Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa: Costing under Demographic Change and Urbanization," IMF Working Papers 2019/249, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Jung, Juan & Katz, Raúl, 2023. "Exploring the heterogeneous link between broadband investment and coverage expansion using Unconditional Quantile Regressions," 32nd European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2023: Realising the digital decade in the European Union – Easier said than done? 277982, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    3. Kim, Yongkyu & Kim, Kiwon & Jang, Yunjeong & Park, Seungkeun, 2022. "Value of Spectrum for Mobile Communications: Case of Korea," 31st European Regional ITS Conference, Gothenburg 2022: Reining in Digital Platforms? Challenging monopolies, promoting competition and developing regulatory regimes 265642, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    4. Edward J. Oughton & Ashutosh Jha, 2021. "Supportive 5G Infrastructure Policies are Essential for Universal 6G: Assessment using an Open-source Techno-economic Simulation Model utilizing Remote Sensing," Papers 2102.08086, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2021.
    5. Hoeschele, Thomas & Dietzel, Christoph & Kopp, Daniel & Fitzek, Frank H.P. & Reisslein, Martin, 2021. "Importance of Internet Exchange Point (IXP) infrastructure for 5G: Estimating the impact of 5G use cases," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3).
    6. Cheng, Xiaoyuan & Hu, Yukun & Varga, Liz, 2022. "5G network deployment and the associated energy consumption in the UK: A complex systems’ exploration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    7. Edward J Oughton & Niccol`o Comini & Vivien Foster & Jim W Hall, 2021. "Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable," Papers 2101.07820, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2021.
    8. Li, Jie & Forzati, Marco, 2020. "Cost, performance and energy consumption of 5G fixed wireless access versus pure fiber-based broadband in Sweden," ITS Conference, Online Event 2020 224866, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    9. Queder, Fabian & Lehr, William & Haucap, Justus, 2020. "5G and Mobile Broadband Disruption," ITS Conference, Online Event 2020 224872, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    10. Oughton, Edward J. & Comini, Niccolò & Foster, Vivien & Hall, Jim W., 2022. "Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    11. Ashutosh Jha & Debashis Saha, 2022. "Mobile Broadband for Inclusive Connectivity: What Deters the High-Capacity Deployment of 4G-LTE Innovation in India?," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1305-1329, August.
    12. Prado, Tiago S. & Bauer, Johannes M., 2021. "Improving broadband policy design using market data: A general framework and an application to Brazil," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4).
    13. Bauer, Johannes M. & Bohlin, Erik, 2022. "Regulation and innovation in 5G markets," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4).
    14. Jaume Benseny & Juuso Toyli & Heikki Hammainen & Andr'es Arcia-Moret, 2019. "The mitigating role of regulation on the concentric patterns of broadband diffusion. The case of Finland," Papers 1905.03002, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2020.
    15. Juan Riol Martín & Raquel Pérez-Leal & Julio Navío-Marco, 2019. "Towards 5G: Techno-economic analysis of suitable use cases," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 153-175, December.
    16. Blind, Knut & Niebel, Crispin, 2022. "5G roll-out failures addressed by innovation policies in the EU," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    17. Liang Wang & Qiming Sun, 2022. "Market Competition, Infrastructure Sharing, and Network Investment in China’s Mobile Telecommunications Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-17, March.
    18. Jang, Yunjeong & Park, Seungkeun & Kim, Kiwon & Kim, Yongkyu, 2024. "Valuation of Mobile Spectrum to be Reassigned," 24th ITS Biennial Conference, Seoul 2024. New bottles for new wine: digital transformation demands new policies and strategies 302518, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    19. Forge, Simon & Vu, Khuong, 2020. "Forming a 5G strategy for developing countries: A note for policy makers," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7).
    20. Robles-Carrillo, Margarita, 2021. "European Union policy on 5G: Context, scope and limits," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:43:y:2019:i:7:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.