Mobile network sharing between operators: a demand trace-driven study

Abstract

Network sharing is often hailed as a promising and cost-effective way to tackle the ever-increasing load of cellular networks. However, its actual effectiveness strongly depends on the correlation between the networks being joined -- intuitively, there is no benefit in joining two networks with exactly the same load and exactly the same deployment. In this paper, we analyse the deployment and traffic traces of two Irish operators to (i) study their correlation in space and time, and (ii) assess the potential benefit brought by network sharing. Through our analysis, we are able to show that network sharing is remarkably effective in making the load more regular over space, improving the operations and performance of cellular networks.