Erasing Digital Divide Leveraging Software-Defined Network Slicing: A Cost-aware Game Theoretic Approach

The persistent digital divide, characterized by un-equal access to affordable and reliable mobile connectivity, remains a critical challenge for inclusive global development. The flow of network resources remains a complex task due to multi-vendor policies in beyond 5G networks (B5G) and sparse user distributions in remote areas. Addressing this issue, this paper presents a cost-aware, game-theoretic framework that leverages software-defined network slicing (SDNS) to minimize deployment cost while maintaining service quality across distributed and sparsely connected user entities (UEs). The problem considers multiple mobile infrastructure providers (MIPs) offering network slices at different cost levels and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) serving end-users seeking optimal connectivity at reasonable prices. The slice allocation and pricing formulation is cast as a mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problem (MILP) that is NP-hard due to the combinatorial coupling of users, slices, and link capacities. We decompose the problem into tractable subgames using a non-cooperative game-theoretic approach that converges to a near-optimal Nash equilibrium. The equilibrium ensures fair profit distribution among MIPs while providing affordable access to users. Simulation results over sparse network topologies demonstrate improved throughput and SINR characteristics with cost savings up to 25% compared to random allocation. Profitability indices show balanced revenue across providers, validating the efficiency of the proposed distributed algorithm in bridging the digital divide.