NSaaS – Network Slicing as a Service
The business models of NSaaS can be categorized into three classes:
- Business to Business (B2B): MNOs sell the network slice to a company who owns both the network and terminals, such as video surveillance networks for security companies and smart factory networks for manufacturing companies. In the B2B case, MNOs not only provide customized wireless connections to enterprises, but also release full control of terminals to the enterprise.
- Business to Consumer (B2C): End consumers can purchase customized data pipes from MNOs for their terminals like smart home devices. In the B2C case, end customers could enjoy the slice once they put subscriber identification module (SIM) cards inside their devices. Generally, customers just use the customized network, but do not possess the network with service separation.
- Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C): The MNO plays the role of wholesale provider; meanwhile, a broker like an MVNO helps MNOs to be engaged with end customers. In this case, MNOs just provide dedicated connections, called MVNO as a service, to the broker, without involving the business part. However, the broker could get more control of the network than traditional MVNOs, who could only get billing files from MNOs.