An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) network cell that uses modular communication modems may be configured to support various communication standards and communication frequency bands. An authentication request from a modular communication modem of a plurality of modular communication modems in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) network cell may be received at a core network of a wireless carrier network following an installation of the modular communication modem into the UAV network cell, in response to authenticating that the modular communication modem is authorized to communicate with the core network, the modular communication modem is registered at the core network to handle communication between the UAV network cell and the core network. However, in response to determining that the modular communication modem is not authorized to communicate with the core network, the modular communication modem is disallowed from handling communication between the UAV network cell and the core network.