醫院垂直應用與5G行網運營合作賽局之研析

Abstract

據市場研究預測，垂直場域應用(Vertical Applications)與微型運營(Micro-operator, µO)，以下簡稱VO，是促成5G電信網路服務廣布並發揮創新價值的重要概念及運營方式。事實上VO於4G環境已存在並成功運營，現行4G VO與行網運營商(MNOs)合作的商業模式，在5G行網時代能否適用甚或廣為擴展，則尚需深入研究探討。本論文研究探討以醫院為垂直應用運營者且基於資源共享概念與行網運營商合作的模式(簡稱為HAVO，hospital-as-vertical-operator)，其中醫院與行網運營商合作運營網路通訊基礎設施，提供員工、病患及訪客行動網路接取服務，藉向參與之行網運營商收取場地租金及電費支持維運開銷，並以醫院為中心發展垂直領域應用平台。本論文研究以台北市某案例醫院A其HAVO於4G環境下運營的成功案例，具體討論兩項議題： 議題1：4G-HAVO成局條件為何?首先須深入了解HAVO和MNOs間於4G成功合作的模式，掌握核心條件與i) 市場環境參數，包含基礎設施成本、用戶資費、市場接受程度等，與ii)商務模式及相關參數間的關係。 議題2 : HAVO升級至5G時，能否以4G商業模式持續發展? 5G網路基礎設施及終端設備價格、行網服務資費、及5G新興服務及具體效益尚不明朗，若HAVO意圖升級為5G網路運營，可否延用現行4G營運模式持續運營HAVO，是醫院評估導入5G進行昇級與否的關鍵議題。 本論文研究透過實地訪談取得相關市場環境參數(market environment parameters, MEP)及商務模式架構等，提出成本效益估算分析(cost-benefit analysis , CBA) 方法，藉以評估現有案例醫院A的4G網路與行網運營商合作模式，並釐定兩者間合作核心條件所在。再以所研提的4G成本分析模型為基準，利用市場上預期5G網路服務費率及成本為參數，研析5G-HAVO若不考慮任何新服務潛在獲利之最差情境，仍能持續運營的條件所在。 最後，建議醫院未來可朝以雙邊市場為基礎的進階效益分析方法發展，以便進一步評估5G網路與醫院垂直領域應用結合後所產生具潛在利益之新機會可否強化支持5G-HAVO合作空間。

According to market research analysis and forecasting, vertical applications and micro-operator (µO), named as VO, has been a prominent notion for 5G network services and operations. In fact, VO has already been operating in a 4G environment successfully for provisioning mobile network access at hospitals. This research aims to identify the win-win conditions based on cooperation and resource sharing between a hospital and MNOs for being a VO. The hospital owns the property of infrastructure and collects fixed site rent and electricity fee from participated MNOs for operational expenses. This kind of cooperative mode is named as hospital-as-vertical-operator (HAVO) in this research. We are to evaluate the 4G case of HAVO at hospital A and propose a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of the current business model between MNOs and the 4G-HAVO at hospital A. The existing 4G-HAVO infrastructure is upgraded by 5G that drives two discussion topics as follows: Issue 1: What are the conditions of the 4G-HAVO? To delineate the core of the conditions, this research adopts a cooperative game theoretic approach in terms of market environment parameters (MEP) including the cost of infrastructure, average charge per user, level of price acceptance, etc. Issue 2: Will current HAVO models be sustainable or further prosper in the coming 5G era? With incorporation of 5G network costs and service charges, the CBA provides a baseline sustainability evaluation of HAVO in 5G without considering potential benefits brought about by new 5G services. In addition, we analyzed the sustainability of HAVO under the same business model (4GBM) with 5G MEPs for the worst cases analyses for MNO and hospital A. The result reveals that new 5G services or verticals will bring more opportunities to keep sustainable cooperation between hospital and MNOs. In conclusions, we propose an advanced CBA concept built on top of two-sided markets that will be helpful in assessing the potential 5G benefits and 5G-HAVO sustainability in our future work.