Patent ID: 8254950

Claim:
A method for switching between network configurations in a radio access network shared by a plurality of mobile network operators, wherein a radio spectrum is allocated to the mobile network operators and wherein two network configurations for sharing the radio access network are defined, a pooled configuration in which two or more of the mobile network operators share at least one carrier, and a dedicated configuration in which two or more of the mobile network operators utilize separate dedicated carriers the method comprising: allocating a single carrier to traffic of two or more of the plurality of mobile network operators, the two or more mobile network operators sharing the single carrier in the pooled configuration using a portion of the radio spectrum for allocating traffic of the two or more mobile network operators; measuring an indicator of traffic load in the shared single carrier; comparing the measured traffic load of the shared single carrier with a threshold value and when the measured traffic load exceeds the threshold value: checking availability of pre-empting the portion of the radio spectrum to divide the portion among a plurality of carriers and when said pre-emption is available, switching the two or more mobile network operators from the pooled configuration to the dedicated configuration in which each of the two or more mobile network operators is assigned to at least one of the plurality of carriers, the portion of the radio spectrum for allocating traffic of the mobile network operators being divided among the plurality of carriers such that the two or more mobile network operators no longer share the single carrier in the pooled configuration.