Decarbonization Level Agreements in the Provision of Transport Network Slices

With the advent of 5G, Network slicing is becoming the common norm for providing advanced services. The primary effort has focused on the capability of providing service guarantees to vertical and residential customers, with Service Level Objectives well defined on the contractual terms of the service. However, little attention has been brought to the sustainability of those network slice services. Nowadays, sustainability goals are more evident than in the past, and in consequence, it is time to extend these considerations also to the network slice services. This paper explores the notion of Decarbonization Level Agreements as complementary contractual terms focusing on decarbonization attributes associated with such slices. The technical scope is mostly on transport network slices by identifying gaps and proposing extensions to current standardization initiatives.