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The telecom sector continues its transition towards virtualizing infrastructure. The digitalization of assets and their commercialization in a marketplace is expected to play a central role in 6G networks.
Technologies like Blockchain and Smart Contracts (SC) are poised to play a significant role in shaping the creation of such a digital decentralized marketplace where stakeholders in the telco industry and even new players can transact with each other more effectively by commercialising virtualized services, infrastructure, and networks.
Blockchain is an innovative and revolutionary technology that presents a promising solution to the current trust problems in 5G and future 6G wireless networks. Building on its nature of decentralization, transparency, anonymity, immutability, traceability, and resiliency, blockchain can establish cooperative trust among separate network entities and facilitate quite a few functionalities for wireless networks (i.e., efficient resource sharing, trusted data interaction, secure access control, privacy protection, and tracing, certification, and supervision). According to the Grand View 2030 Blockchain Technology Market Size & Growth Report, the global blockchain technology market size was valued at USD 17.46 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 87.7% from 2023 to 2030, hoping to reach USD 1,431.54 billion.
In parallel, Blockchain-enabled Smart Contracts (SC), which allow the execution of contracts in an automated way without manual and third-party intervention, can be an excellent solution to guarantee the different terms and conditions of future applications in complex 6G networks, as they may help to increase efficiency by cutting down administration processes and time and saving services cost while reducing the risk of errors and disputes. According to Grand View Research´s Smart Contracts Market Size, Share & Analysis Report 2030, the global SCs market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 82.2% in the coming years, to reach USD 73,773.0 million by 2030.
Figure 1: Smart vs Traditional Contracts
SCs offer many benefits in many diverse areas, but particular to the scope of the 6GENABLERS-DTL project; they have been designed to be incorporated into the 6GENABLERS Marketplace Platform for the transaction of Network Functions of any type (xNF).
In this context, Atos has developed the SC system, a key element of the trusted 6GENABLERS Marketplace Platform. The SC system facilitates xNF providers and service providers’ engagement in negotiations backed up by an SC.
The results from R&D projects play a vital role in boosting the innovation process and enhancing the portfolio of products and technologies offered to customers within an organisation like Atos. Currently, different exploitation paths are being explored for the SC System to reach the maturity and evolution needed to be considered a candidate for inclusion in Atos’s portfolio.
Author: Sonia Castro, Research and Innovation Projects Lead at Eviden
