"Can we consider the curve below as having slow-wave properties? Also, what should be the operating frequency of the unit cell as determined from the attached dispersion curve?"
This structure has a slow-wave region below 4 GHz, and possibly a band gap close to 4 GHz. The operating frequency you choose depends on what you want the structure to do. What speed do you want the wave to be travelling?
At 2.45 to 3 GHz the group velocity is about half the speed of light, which is not very slow and probably not what you want. If you want a structure which is slow at these frequencies make it 20% to 25% bigger.