Unveiling Network Sharing Capabilities Enabled by 5G Network Slicing

The real-world deployments of 5G SA networks have highlighted significant challenges, particularly related to signal coverage, leading to performance degradation for enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC). To address these challenges and minimize the costs of new infrastructure deployment, Network Sharing among multiple operators has become a viable, cost-effective solution. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) began exploring network sharing in 5G with Release 15, expanding it with an Indirect Network Sharing configuration in Release 19. In this work, we present an Indirect Network Sharing approach that utilizes Network Slicing to create multiple isolated virtual networks on a single physical infrastructure, ensuring resource isolation and efficient management in a multi-operator environment. Our demonstration illustrates how a third-party entity can effectively manage network resources, maintaining isolation and performance quality across different network domains operated by various providers.