Spectrum assignment for connected vehicles: Local licensing versus coopetition

The deployment of 5G urban networks is often described as a disruptive phenomenon since it enables new emerging Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as connected vehicles. Such applications demand new spectrum regulations to decrease network investment requirements by incentivizing operator cooperation. However, currently, no clear consensus exists on the appropriate regulatory regime for such an urban deployment. This work explores two main alternative regulatory scenarios for a connected vehicle use case. Both alternatives lower implementation costs while promoting competition. The first alternative is to maintain the current scheme of spectrum assignment while facilitating additional flexibility for infrastructure sharing (ex-post competition). The second alternative is to define local areas for monopoly 5G provisioning and define the conditions for competition ex-ante. Through agent-based simulations, this work shows that a local licensing of spectrum scenario may achieve better performance than alternative scenarios with traditional spectrum assignment. Additional sensitivity checks also help detail the practical trade-offs.