A Comprehensive Guide to 5G Security

14Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) Security

Mehrnoosh Monshizadeh^1,2 and Vikramajeet Khatri¹

¹ Nokia Bell Labs, Finland

² Aalto University, Finland

14.1 Introduction

Due to the vital role of mobile operators in providing Internet services and the fast growth of cloud computing technology, mobile operators have considered reforming themselves as one of the cloud providers for networking services. Telecommunications Service Providers (TSPs), especially Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), have invested huge amounts of resources in maintenance and expansion of their infrastructures, while cloud providers such Amazon and Google sell their services at the expense of telecom operators. A physical mobile network can host several network operators, called Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). Each MVNO can have its own support systems or they may become customers of a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE). In order to meet the growing demands of data and reduce the costs, an efficient development method is to implement MVNE services using cloud computing.

Since November 2012, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has hosted industry specification group for Network Function Virtualization (NFV). The idea is to apply mainstream IT virtualization technologies to specify standardized network elements, which can be run on a cloud service and can be used as building blocks to create communication services [1]. This would enable cloud‐based centralized network ...