The Role of DLT for Beyond 5G Systems and Services: A Vision

Abstract

Security, privacy, and trust are the key factors to unlock the full potential of future communication as beyond 5G and 6G systems enable new and more disruptive business models involved with multiple stakeholders, including mobile network operators, mobile virtual network operators, infrastructure providers, third party service providers, policy makers, end-users, and etc. The huge set of data, interaction process, and service management across these stakeholders require new technologies that can help the telecom industry to manage various data related to users, interaction process, and services in a way that is immutable, transparent, and secure with reduced OPEX to stay ahead of the market and to meet the evolving horizontal and vertical service and security requirements. This article presents an overview of the more promising key enablers, such as blockchain, permissioned distributed ledger technologies, and smart contract that can tackle the challenges of data security, privacy, and trust management in various potential beyond 5G and 6G application scenarios.