Mobile network sharing is now an established strategic choice for the industry. No longer is it just about sharing tower sites. Instead, instances of operators sharing active components of their network are on the rise. Given that this approach has now been proven for both 2G and 3G networks, we believe that active network sharing is set to play a big role in LTE rollout. Ultimately, as active network sharing grows, the big question for the industry will be how many mobile networks a country really needs.
The changing argument over network sharing
It is interesting to see how the debate about network sharing has shifted in recent years. Passive sharing was generally okayed, and many regulators encourage it as the environmentally right thing to do.
But the arguments against active sharing remained, such as “It is too risky” or “You will lose your independence.” It is not that these concerns have disappeared; rather, a bigger headache has made them look paltry.
Operators face strongly falling ARPU, yet they are expected to continue investing billions to ensure network availability and appropriate capacity. How to reconcile these two divergent concerns is the reason for heightened interest in network sharing.
Network sharing is the logical thing to do now
In our recently published report “Mobile network sharing: a post-recession reality”, we explored how the economic downturn has strengthened the case for all forms of network sharing. In particular, interest in active sharing is rising. This could involve only the RAN or RAN plus spectrum, or it could go as deep as the core network. Notably too, operators that share their active networks tell us that there is still a lot of room for differentiation in the way they manage the network.
With the Telenor/Tele2 LTE deal in Sweden, plus Lightsquared’s plan to create a wholesale LTE network in the US, we expect up to 30% of all LTE networks in the next five years to involve some form of active network sharing. This will be particularly so in rural areas, where operators plan to use the 800MHz spectrum to provide LTE coverage. For a list of publicly announced network sharing deals, see our “Mobile network sharing deals analyzer”.