New IHS Markit White Paper Offers Strategies to Improve the Home Broadband Experience

New IHS Markit White Paper Offers Strategies to Improve the Home Broadband Experience

LONDON (February 25, 2019) – Broadband is already a commodity, and these days it is often considered an essential utility, like water and electricity. As such, it has also become a necessity in most households. The “Home Broadband Experience Index,” a complimentary new white paper from IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), provides insight on how service providers can improve customer satisfaction by maximizing the broadband experience.

“By offering and achieving  a superior experience across the various levels of the broadband consumer’s journey, service providers can control churn and more efficiently grow their service revenues,” said Elias Aravantinos, principal analyst at IHS Markit. “With broadband being bought as a commodity today, service providers must listen to consumers more effectively through their customer care and marketing channels, as the feedback may open opportunities to offer tailored consumer packages.”

The development of new business models that are driven by user customization may drive the evolution of the premium broadband experience. A combination of highly reliable connectivity, customized offers and high-quality services are the key to attractive smart home packages. Service consciousness is another feature of the premium broadband experience, as service providers must offer the most positive user experience across all stages of the customer journey.

Creating a standard for premium home networking helps service providers respond to the consumer need for high-level service and effective WiFi throughout the home. “As the global data transmission increase is directly linked to the deployment of fiber-optic cable, service providers should adopt a premium network standard, a fiber-based solution, along with a premium WiFi solution to respond to the consumers’ needs,” Aravantinos said.

“A plug-and-play broadband home increases consumer satisfaction, from the beginning of their journey,” Aravantinos said. “Consumers want to complete processes quickly, without any specific knowledge. Service providers are encouraged to offer equipment that comfortably suits online needs.”

According to Aravantinos, “the best premium service offers a significant advantage to society, as it enables access to knowledge and information including healthcare, education and safety of citizens. There is a role that service providers should consider playing – not only offering premium broadband experience, but also advancing the digital society to the next level.”  

To find out more about the IHS Markit “Home Broadband Experience Index,” join analysts Elias Aravantinos and Jack Kent for a presentation at MWC 2019 on Tuesday, February 26, at 14:00 in the Media Village Press Meeting Conference Room 4. To download a free copy of the white paper, visit https://technology.ihs.com/611257.

Meet IHS Markit Analysts at MWC2019 — Elias Aravantinos and other industry experts from IHS Markit will also be available for media interviews at the upcoming MWC2019 in Barcelona, February 25-28, 2019. To schedule an interview before, during or after the show, contact Lee Graham at lee.graham@ihsmarkit.com or press@ihsmarkit.com.   

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About IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com)

IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the world’s leading financial institutions. Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to sustainable, profitable growth.

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5G: The Efficient Engine to Virtual Infrastructure Optimization

Ahead of his participation at TM Forum Live!, ACG Research’s Elias Aravantinos looks at how 5G technology can be the engine to optimize the different parts of the network to enable new, faster and more profitable services.

Infrastructure optimization
In an effort to address the demand for capacity and average revenue per user (ARPU) pressures, service providers are looking at 5G technology as the engine to optimize the different parts of their networks and deliver faster, new and more profitable services. In many cases, they realize that upgrading their physical infrastructure has limitations because of costs and inefficient time to market constraints, and they are looking for solutions, specifically virtualization, that scale their networks to meet the capacity demand while simultaneously delivering business value – savings.

Click to read the TM Forum article.

Nokia-ALU merger, can the new European force race to wireless top?

Following a trend I predicted in March 2015 (Intense market transformation and consolidation will be among the key 2015 wireless market features) Nokia recently announced it bought the French
networking supplier Alcatel-Lucent in a deal valued at $17bn (€15.6bn). The combined company will be called Nokia Corporation, headquartered in Finland, with Rajeev Suri, continuing to serve as CEO.

The company’s goal is to “create the foundation of seamless connectivity for people and things.”

Nokia plans to establish a €100m fund to invest in Internet of things startups in France following the
closure of the deal, which is expected toward the end of the 2015, that is if there are no serious delays.

ALU’s Value Proposition

Alcatel-Lucent propelled by its successful growth in core networking and routing, was ranked No. 2
in edge routers in 2014 behind Cisco. The new Nokia will definitely take advantage of that position as this core networking unit will add a large percentage to the company’s total revenue. In addition,

Alcatel-Lucent has managed to put together a serious wireless partner “ecosystem”, especially for
metro and small cell requirements.

Alcatel-Lucent is also poised to capitalize and lead on new technologies such as 5G as the company is exploring a new air interface on the Filtered OFDM, and its Qualcomm’s strategic small cell
partnership could be possibly expanded to enhance its future radio access portfolio.

Complementing this ecosystem is Nokia’s Flexizone and Flexi Radio, which covers macro and small
cell layer in addition to virtualization, as the company has virtualized most of its core, RAN, as well
as delving into NFV alternatives. Nokia also brings strategic partnerships with Dragonwave (mobile
backhaul) and Juniper Networks (IP/routing) to the table.

However, the companies do face obstacles common in all mergers. The difficult points in this deal
will be staff and product harmonization, especially related to existing customers. The company will
have to deal with issues such as orchestration of product overlaps, multiple business partners (internal and external), LTE customers’ relations, and common management across USA, Europe and China.
All of which could shake up the global market for quite some time.

Competitors, naturally, are digesting the impact of this gigantic deal but also realize that to stay
competitive they will need to adjust their strategies as well as introduce new products as more intensive competition is anticipated across all sectors. Historically, Ericsson is used to that pressure, but this case is definitely unique and more challenging; NokAlu  is expected to become a global leader in ultra-broadband, IP networking and cloud applications, has raised this competitive bar.

Investors should closely follow the new company’s milestones and stock as undoubtedly there will be many upturns and downturns before the company stabilizes. The core networking segment is a high-
margin, strong performing one that should add and increase the value of NokAlu’s stock. Today, if we benchmark Nokia and Ericsson’s stock, there has not been much volatility during the past year, but there is a respectful gap in the value per share. But this merger could be a game changer.

Once the merger and its accompanying issues have been address and processes, policies staff, etc., are integrated, Nokia will be strongly positioned with a highly efficient and complete end-to end portfolio across all sectors to capture 5G global contracts. With 5G expected to be multidimensional very few vendors with innovative product portfolios will be able to comply and implement providers’ demands but with this merge Nokia will.

Source: ACG Research

ACG Research Announces New Principal Mobility Analyst

GILBERT, ARIZONA, USA, March 31, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Elias Aravantinos, a respected consultant in the ICT consulting and telecom industry has recently joined ACG Research, analyst and consulting firm, provides market shares and forecasts in the service provider equipment space, business modeling and TCO/ROI consulting services, service creation, strategic messaging and go-to-market strategies in managed all aspects of the networking industry.

Elias Aravantinos will extend ACG Research’s strong presence in the service provider space by bringing his extensive multidisciplinary background and experience in technology marketing and management consulting for large vendors and Wall Street firms in wireless infrastructure and mainly into the service mobility and WiFi segments for both ACG’s Europe and North America operations.

Mr. Aravantinos will be responsible for ACG’s service provider mobility division, delivering consulting and analysis for end-to-end mobility infrastructure, services and emerging business models. His professional experience includes working for KPMG where he lead an Identity Management Applications and Services, securing the company’s extranet; Lucent Technologies Lab where he designed a dynamic allocation spectrum model for the next-generation wireless networks, applying computational economics and optimization models; Columbia Institute for Tele-Information leading a strategic consortium of operators to understand the ultra-broadband network and the technology requirements to develop a set of wireless and wireline solutions. During the last five years, he has developed extended expertise into wireless technology projects, as well as microwave and mobile backhaul.

Elias is a pioneer in technology and business-related indexes and helps service providers and technology managers to understand the present and future trends. “Operators and SPs are challenged today, as there is a tremendous need for in-depth research and strategic analysis across various wireless technologies that form a very demanding and dynamic ecosystem,” says Elias Aravantinos. “I look forward to helping them address these issues and am really excited to be part of a strong team of thought leaders that will complement my passion, vision and expertise across different technologies.”

“As capex shifts more toward wireless, operators are looking for the best services and innovative architecture to not only reduce churn but also to increase profitability, says Dr. Ray Mota. Having Mr. Elias Aravantinos who has expertise in the technology and business side of mobile and wireless technologies, will help ACG Research provide comprehensive services to MNOs and vendors as well as complement their requirements as they look to state-of-the-art service creation and business case analysis in areas of 5G, VoWiFi, VoLTE, backhaul and other wireless areas.” 

For more information about ACG’s mobility and WiFi services or to schedule a briefing with Elias Aravantinos, contact lleone@acgcc.com.

ACG Research
ACG Research
408-200-0967
email us here

Linkedin to surpass Facebook's value as professional networks are more useful

A few days ago Facebook Inc announced that the professional version of its social network aimed at businesses will launch in the next few months. I wouldn’t disagree that Facebook is No.1 Internet social network with 1.35 billion monthly users. But we also shouldn’t forget Branchout back in 2010, a Facebook application for professional networking that raised $49 million over three rounds. Today that is the failed startup that attempted to create a “LinkedIn within Facebook” network, but the company’s assets have been acquired by 1-Page, an HR software company based out of San Francisco, listed on the Australian stock exchange. That deal was closed pretty much the same time with Facebook’s official announcement about the new professional network that could be considered as a switch into something new.

However the professional community today, is totally different to Facebook’s approach and envision. For most professionals and executives, Facebook is meaningless or even dangerous and they wont ever connect their Facebook profile with the upcoming professional one. When you meet other professionals all over the world, the first thing you do to keep in touch is to connect via Linkedin and network rather than a Facebook connection that will come later or even never. Linkedin today is where professionals meet globally, joining forums online, finding jobs, acquiring knowledge and create partnerships.

All this value is translated into a 40% share growth in the past 6 months, what investors care about, 20% more than Facebook Inc’s. Linkedin has created its own path, partly based on a typical social network’s principles, gaining full approval from its members that join at a rate of more than two new members per second. Perhaps that was the reason that made Facebook realize that it has to be there and gain market share, even if Linkedin is more robust and sustainable and will be hard to beat.

Based on Linkedin stats, more than 4 million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages and in Q32014 total revenues advanced 45% on a Y-o-Y basis.

Concluding, if Facebook Inc plans to offer the professional network, closely attached to Facebook’s platform, it will most likely have limited success as most professionals are already settled with profiles and contacts in Linkedin. I don’t really see how Facebook will motivate this community to give up Linkedin or even add the new platform and a personal profile as we all have limited time to network, to build profiles/reputation and are interested into serious discussions and opinions. Finally Linkedin continuously offers new leading social features, as “Like Post”, “Write Post” that increase engagement and the high value content.

Why LTE-M should play a major role in M2M evolution

Most M2M applications today do not need the higher bandwidth of LTE and 3G as data rate of a few hundreds kbps could meet their needs. The LTE-M extension aims to fulfill the specific energy, spectrum, cost, efficiency constraints of M2M communications, whilst not hindering current LTE devices to operate normally on the LTE network.

LTE-M is expected to be released by 2017 achieving the following

• low power consumption and autonomy (i.e. up to five years for a device running on AA batteries), 
• easy deployment 
• interoperability, 
• low overall cost, 
• excellent coverage. 

LTE-M is likely to evolve further with discussion on including local mesh networking, very low cost modules (under $5), very long battery life ( even up to 10 years due to  long sleep cycles) and low data rates with two-way (including full-duplex) communication.

LTE-M should co-exist with other proprietary networks supporting backwards compatibility to the previous LTE standards in the same spectrum. Today, for example the LTE EPC will require scaling and densification to support a huge number of additional LTE-M devices similar to the requirement of an increased subscriber number as LTE rollout 
progresses. 

Thus, two different worlds need to coexist and share the same resources: first, the LTE core network with LTE users directly connected to the base station (eNodeB) through a LTE interface; second, the capillary (and heterogeneous) network with 
LTE-M or non LTE-M devices connected to a M2M Gateway via any air interface (LTE-M or 
not), while the M2M Gateway is interconnected to the LTE base station via a LTE-M 
interface. It might be also possible for LTE-M standalone devices (i.e., LTE-M devices which do not belong to any capillary network) to directly access the base station via a LTE-M connection. Some main features and research has been conducted in the EXALTED (EXpAnding LTE for Devices), an Integrating Project (IP) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by 2013.

However detailed security features and protocols need further research if need to be implemented. The security protocols should be applied at the application and data layer without compromising the energy efficiency of the device, inducing the minimal extra electrical consumption. Security should also be implemented at the SIM (embedded in the device) level, based on the SIM's hardware and operating system, components that are progressing, enabling high security for a minimal economical cost and a minimal energy consumption.

Today LTE Category 4-6 supports broadband M2M services at speeds of 300 kbps, expecting LTE Category 0, by 2017 to reach data speeds at up to 1Mbps.  LTE Category 0, Cat-0, has been already incorporated into the 3GPP standards, thus the possibility of using LTE as a main bearer for M2M communications has come a step nearer. Most 4G LTE mobile phones being used today are either category 3 or 4, and new developments are taking place for categories 6 or even 7.

Category 0 can perform really well under certain configuration and conditions. It is expected to reduce the complexity of an LTE modem relative to a single band Category 1 LTE module due to a modem's simplicity. Today, Cat-0 operates with only one transmit / receive antenna; has a single RF chain; the peak data rate is 1Mbps in downlink and uplink. That can be achieved by using reduced transport block sizes; among the limitations is the fact that it supports only half duplex capability.

In addition, an M2M unit does not usually require a display or UI, thus the processing power is now compared to a typical smartphone.  Low cost modems could be used that could be really cheap in a large scale,  where each could cost like a GSM modem (~$10). 

Today some interesting M2M applications among others include Energy Smart Metering and E-Health considered basic parts of tomorrow's networked society. Many startup companies heavily involved into IoT and M2M, should be able to provide efficiency and innovation into a variety of low cost solutions.

WiFi Calling is here & soon during flight!

Everybody loves WiFi today, but what is actually WiFi Call and why is that so important now for mobile subscribers and operators?

It actually bridges the gap and long lasting complaint of the lack of coverage in very dense areas and mainly at home where poor signal ends to voice interruptions. But what is new and how does it work?

Ericsson and other vendors have been pushing this service to mobile device manufactures during the past years, Apple (iPhone6), Samsung (Galaxy S4 and S5) and others to include that function in the phone. So, today the subscriber can use his “WiFi Call” ready smartphone to call over his residential WiFi (no matter the ISP) and via a seamless handover to cellular network (i.e LTE) can complete his phone call. This new service provides a seamless handoff for calls between cellular network and Wi-Fi. Same charges will apply as a regular cellular phone call but in that way the operator offers another alternative to successful phone calls in real dense areas. At his point mobile operators offer this new service as a value added service in existing programs with no additional charges and most likely that will remain the same.

During the demo at Ericsson, we used two phones, an iPhone6 roaming over the US T-Mobile’s network, using the local WiFi connection and a regular cell phone that accepted the call in Sweden. I must say that the audio quality was really good, and although some delay was obviously there, it was really the minimum, below a sec, ending up to an easy, normal phone call. Regarding bandwidth, I estimate you need about 80kbps both ways to hold a call, where T-Mobile’s fine print lists standard speeds at approx. 128 Kbps. However this service will not be ideal for coffee shops where noise and the low shared bit rate could make it difficult where HD voice (VoLTE) should sound more ideal.

This is a new service for mobile operators to compete in the Over the Top (OTT market), against Skype, Google Talk etc, where more devices need to be WiFi Call ready and cooperation with the carrier is always needed; the cellular networks should support this service. The most important though today is to spread the word and convince the subscribers to use the service and gain connectivity to the common residential dark spots.

Verizon Wireless announced recently its VoLTE voice and video calling service, but the company “said it had no plans for Wi-Fi calling,”. AT&T announced that it will roll out VoLTE soon and Wi-Fi calling in 2015. Sprint does not yet offer Wi-Fi calling for the iPhone but does for some Android devices.

As broadband speeds continue to improve and Wi-Fi becomes available on more high-end smartphones, Wi-Fi calling has the potential to become the new de facto voice option in the workplace, in roaming, even to travelers at hotels and why not to take off to a video service, as a future step.  Also we shouldn’t also forget that as WiFi will be also available during flights that would be an excellent service to accept calls. T-Mobile is partnering with Gogo® Air, making it the only wireless company whose customers can text, picture message, even check Visual Voicemail at 30,000 feet.

Ericsson announced in September 2014 that is building new LTE systems in the 700 MHz and 1900 MHz PCS bands for T-Mobile and supporting the same time VoLTE and WiFi call services. Ericsson was the vendor that built a good deal of T-Mobile’s first LTE network.

Source: http://exelixisnet.com/wifi-call-fosters-us-cellular-calls/

Small Cells New Order – Operators reveal LTE small cell deployment plans and innovations

Athens, Greece, New York City, NY and Singapore, October 29, 2013 – Market research firm ExelixisNet and advisory services firm Xona Partners have released their 2013 small cell deployment strategies report: “Small Cells New Order – a global status report.” The report reveals mobile operators plans for small cell network deployments and the new innovations that they will be relying on to make their investment in those networks a success.

Elias Aravantinos, Lead Analyst at ExelixisNet commented, “Densification of mobile networks has been talked about for nearly 10 years and the most recent manifestation of that vision – carrier deployed outdoor small cells – has been highly anticipated, but delayed. So what is the hold up? In this report we surveyed operators across the Americas and EMEA and the answers were surprising but encouraging: small cell network deployments are imminent but at the same time the first movers will be establishing a new order around how networks will be built in the future. This is disruptive for small cell equipment vendors.”

Small Cells New Order:  SELECTED KEY FINDINGS

• Over 50% of the surveyed operators say they want to deploy small cells in 2014.
• Cost is the fundamental challenge to small cell deployments. Half the of the surveyed operators have not yet fully ascertained the value proposition for small cells and are still working on the cost model for small cell deployments.
• Operators are keeping an open mind to solving the small cell backhaul challenge with many solutions in trials. The report compares the backhaul technologies and identifies the leading vendors in each category.
• Operators are asking overwhelmingly (over 50% of cases) for multimode LTE, 3G, and Wi-Fi outdoor small cells. This puts tremendous pressure on the backhaul network capacity.

Frank Rayal, Partner at Xona Partners added, “Evolving the current wireless network to a heterogeneous architecture that includes large and small cells running multiple access technologies is a major undertaking. Small cells are a catalyst for a wave of innovations that define the network of the future. Operators are in the process of implementing the fundamental technologies that will make operating this network cost effective. In our report, we reveal the vendors that operators have identified as ones with innovative approaches to the small cell deployment challenge.”

Small Cells New Order – a global status report runs to 40 pages. This report provides answers from the perspective of leading operators on fundamental questions to small cell deployments such as:

• What type of heterogeneous network meets operators’ operational expectations?
• What do operators see as the challenges holding up small cell deployments?
• Will operators deploy small cells in the same spectrum used for macro cells?
• What type of small cells will be deployed?
• What operators see as their primary small cell backhaul and how they rank the different solutions?
• Which vendors are operators considering for each backhaul technology?

Download the Brochure from here: ExelixisNet_Small_Cell report_brochure

Press Contact:

Elias Aravantinos, Lead Analyst
earavantinos@exelixisnet.com

Report inquiries, contact ExelixisNet: http://exelixisnet.com/research-reports

Microwave PtMP backhaul equipment market is expected to surpass US$ 300 million by 2017

Microwave PtMP  backhaul equipment market is expected to surpass US$ 300 million by 2017
PtMP licensed backhaul equipment is still in contention as a high-capacity technology for small cell backhaul

Athens, Greece and London, UK, 22 February 2013 – Point to Multipoint (PtMP) microwave backhaul shipments decreased 6% in Q4 2012 over Q1 2012, but a sustainable two-digit Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is forecasted by 2017, according to ExelixisNet’s latest report, “PtMP Backhaul Market for LTE and small cells”.

The relentless demand for network backhaul capacity is making mobile operators consider every possible option for efficient, sustainable backhaul solutions. Licensed point to multi-point microwave solutions continued to make inroads as an alternative to conventional wireless backhaul albeit a major European network breakthrough has still not occurred. Concerns over interference, spectrum availability and service guarantee issues, continue to present barriers for widespread adoption for PtMP. The breakthrough may not be that far away however with many operators looking seriously at PtMP solutions for small cell backhaul. “The new all-outdoor licensed-band radios look very efficient and competitive, even in the emerging 42 GHz band, compared to the NLOS solutions,  and are expected to become a key asset for backhaul links between lamp posts and the sides of buildings where small cells will be installed,” said Elias Aravantinos, author of the report and ExelixisNet Leading Analyst. The new outdoor small cell PtmP solutions will be tested during 2013 not only to prove whether they can deliver ease of installation, attractive form factor, and improved traffic handling benefits but also to evaluate whether the predicted lower overall cost of ownership (TCO) can be realized.

The wireless PtMP backhaul equipment market is expected to surpass US$300 million by 2017, almost 3-fold growth from 2012 to 2017. ExelixisNet believes the overall PtMP wireless backhaul equipment market growth will reach its profitable peak early 2014, even 5-fold growth as a really high forecast, as the PtmP solutions could serve the small cell market’s uptake in a very satisfying, efficient and economic level, as described in the report.

Drawing from in-depth interviews with backhaul vendors and operators worldwide, the report provides a detailed look at licensed microwave PtMP backhaul technology, spectrum, and investment and market trends.

Selected Key Findings:

• Middle East is the fastest growing region for Ptmp microwave shipments between 2011 and 2012
• Africa maintained a continuous demand pace between 2011 and 2012, but Latin America is expected to uptake in the next 5-years
• Shipments of radios in the 26GHz band represented 47% of total shipments in H2 2011, a surprising increase of 100% from the previous half
• Lack of progress is observed in European Markets
• CBNL managed to maintain 50% of the market share mainly due to strong ongoing business in the Middle East and Africa.
• Intracom Telecom’s innovative small cell backhaul solution is expected to become a key player in the near future
• Hughes and its satellite solutions remain very attractive especially when securing communication during natural disasters
• Bluwan managed to turn the spinoff into a sustainable companyand a key player in delivering high speed and high capacity Point to Multipoint wireless backhaul

ExelixisNet is a global consulting firm focusing on LTE and broadband wireless technologies, regulation and other technologies and markets.

Press Contact:
Elias Aravantinos, Leading Analyst
Email: earavantinos@exelixisnet.com
Tel: (+30)6949732009

7 facts about the upcoming #MWC13

In about a month Barcelona will host the biggest and most exciting event and show of the year, the Mobile World Congress 2013 (25-28 February 2013). It is the 8^th consistent year that the event takes place in Barcelona and will continue till 2018. But what are some facts you need to know about this year’s event?

1. The change of venue might cause some issues to the visitors that were used to the previous central and very convenient location but also knew very well their way through the Halls. You should be ready to dive into the unknown. However the new venue (Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via map) located close to the airport, although it will be hard to reach, no metro around just some buses, it is 30% larger than the previous one (94,000 sqm)
2. GSMA reports 10% more bookings than last year
3. 140 government representatives (for the first time) are expected to raise interest about spectrum issues and regulation, crucial for the smooth mobile market’s operation
4. Samsung  is expected to launch officially  the Galaxy Note 8 inch tablet, as Samsung’s mobile head JK Shin recently confirmed. It includes quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 1280x800 resolution and 5MP rear camera.
5. The Near Field Communication (NFC) setup and experience is expected to assist the visitors with new applications. NFC center and interactive zones will allow the visitors to collect information about the exhibition venues, locations, events, places of interest etc. Interesting and progressive feature, however NFC is not supported from all smartphones.
6. The GSMA Connected City is one of the event’s highlights. A real city’s street will show how advanced mobile services can promote innovation, economic growth and new business ideas. The solutions will be supplied from AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, GSMA, KT, Telenor and Vodafone.
7. Greece, for the first time, will participate with its own national kiosk, sending the message, “Technology born in Greece goes global”, where 25 Greek startups and businesses will present their products and services.

Source: ExelixisNet, http://exelixisnet.com/?p=437

An all built-in 2012 presented flat growth for the microwave industry

Mobile operators continue to invest heavily in LTE networks during 2012 and towards 2013 offering more capacity to their 3G subscribers, very often they face the difficult task of choosing solutions that will allow them to seamlessly maintain their businesses during the transition to pure packet networks. The several microwave solutions are a good and cost effective option. These solutions across different frequencies and architectures are able to maintain enough capacity to ensure superb Quality of Experience (QoE) for end users as the demand for data consumption continues to grow.

2012 has been a very dynamic year, with lots of competition among vendors, where operators are as always  in the driver’s seat evaluating and maintaining two or even more microwave suppliers in quiet aggressive agreements. Lots of reforming and new products anticipating either an aggressive small cells evolution or faster LTE networks deployment. Overall it’s been a flat year (2012) with a small increase in the basket of shipped links or contracts for most microwave suppliers when other especially the exclusive E-Band suppliers managed to sustain business.

Magic boxes, amazing toolkits and long haul tails empowering small cells backhauling

By Elias Aravantinos

Cost effective solutions and future radios planning in respect to NGMN guidelines and not only were discussed during the 2-days event of Packet Microwave and Backhaul Forum organized in London by Layer 123. Backhaul remains a commercial and technical challenge, where many intelligent solutions could be provided reserving simplicity as Everything Everywhere (EE) highlighted. Operators and vendors had the chance to exchange concerns, identify issues and solutions to push mobile backhaul and small cells further down the road. All technologies were discussed and debated, from Point-to-Point (PtP) and Point-to-multipoint (PmP) to NLOS (Non-Line-of-sight) and high performance V-band and E-band solutions. The products exhibition helped the attendees to get a better idea of form factors, size and feel but also look into some demo data as presented from the big microwave players such as Alcatel-Lucent and NEC. Even North American vendors were actively participating such as Bridgewave and Aviat Networks.

Huawei presented its brand new E-Band solution, expected to be launched even earlier this year, a full outdoor radio performing a throughput of up to 2.5 Gbps, (over 250 MHz channels), which will be further improved to a fiber-like capacity of 10 Gbps or higher. It is ideal to support ‘pipe’ channel or similar capacity demanded situations. It attracted lots of attention and expected to have an impact to the industry till the upcoming WMC in February 2013. 

Other vendors, exhibited also their millimeter wave radios, such as Sub10, SIAE and Siklu. Traditional PMP vendors, Cambridge Broadband Networks and Intracom Telecom presented also small cells solutions, with the latter getting some more attention on the new concept, the ‘WiBAS metro node’ solution for small cells backhauling introducing a single piece of equipment for a single band. Perhaps some joint force is needed to prove the PmP business case, because just the ‘less equipment’ argument might not be enough anymore from an industry’s voice perspective. Big vendors like Alcatel Lucent continue to examine the PmP technology investigating other vendors’ solutions, looking into partnerships as in the past they did with CBNL for a customer’s request. This time though is looking more intensively into Radwin’s radios that seem to have a better fit and a partnership could be possible along pre-defined terms.

Along news concepts was also CommScope, a well-respected antenna producer (300,000 units per year) holding more than 50% of backhaul traffic, thinking beyond class 4 antennas – which allows better use of ACM - to flat antennas, could even called class 5 that could gain more than 84% in efficiency within a cost of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Bluwan as always was there discussing millimeter wave PMP with their brand new CTO but also BlinQ Networks discussing sub 6 GHz NLOS solutions and a comparison TCO case study, expecting to play a key role in the toolkit approach. However although these two companies have completed a series of trials, there is still no proof, case studies or articles on discussing the results in an either technical or business approach.

Thus all these small factors magic boxes, with all this continuous reengineering and strict guidelines and performances are looking for some light in the end of the tunnel, revenues, when today the mall cells volume still remains in a few thousands level . High density areas will expect to form ecosystems hosting a toolklit approach, where several technologies could co-exist (i.e PmP and 60GHz etc) in order to achieve the best performance and cost effective sites. QoS, QoE, capacity and coverage could definitely be the drivers to that. Additionally, the new innovative services, M2M and cloud might also ask for high performance networks.

A few cases studies were presented trying to coin the small cell economics with some cost and ratio analysis between the macro and microcell level.  A 1:11 or 1:5 ratio could be possibly a good guess, in a macro-to-micro ratio, with the small cells in the near future to follow a 10-20% of the macrocells’ cost, as EE mentioned. The small cells locations would need additional planning to capture as much traffic as they can. Definitely, anyone could argue with these numbers but we are still in the early stages of small cells backhauling and deployment, expected to pick up by mid-2014. The big argument is that if the macrocells are 25% utilized, how much will be the small cells? If we take as an example the city of London, tons of people go in and out the city daily for work. In that sense, traffic will appear in bursts, where the small cells radios might remain idle overnight. That’s a good reason to make the operators align only into low cost solutions for small cells, satisfying certain peaks during the day.

Long haul solutions are also of high interest, especially the effort to migrate whole networks first to SDH and later to packet traffic. Ceragon, the microwave specialist, is digging “Terabit on the beach”, in Africa, mentioning that long haul networks could offer reduced TCO and spectral efficiency. However long haul is not the major operators concern these days, but in a recent microwave applications survey, short haul was is the top (90%) and PmP in the bottom (20%) of the list.

Some issues that still need to be clarified are: what is packet microwave for millimeter wave, for small cells and what are the differences and concerns. Small cells definition given, “low power cells (0.5 – 5W) within an urban clutter”, but is that enough? What are the installation economics and engineering of the site, where and how does ‘the man with the ladder’ fit in and the repeatable process of deploying 20 small cells along a street in a couple of hours or even in a few days as MLL, a UK network operator mentioned. On the other hand it’s difficult to forecast IP traffic due to its large fluctuation, thus robust bandwidth provisioning is needed.

Automated solutions seemed to start shaping a new landscape, as ‘zero touch’ provisioning for scalable rollout, mobility management, SON and overall future intelligent backhaul level developments of stand-alone systems.  Advanced LTE could even change and improve any phase synchronization issues. Looking more into the future, even a 3^rd generation millimeter wave platform could address all the current TCO issues, satisfying all the technical requirements of small cells.

ExelixisNet.com, an independent analyst’s firm, covered the media part of the event, joining interesting discussions with vendors, operators and other analysts, identifying the need for ‘toolkit’ case studies for different cities that could be done either internally and more intensively like the one that EE is working on or externally with a three-part collaboration, operator, vendor and analyst.

PMP may solve the small cells challenge in the near future

Mobile operators around the world are watching the exponential growth of mobile data usage that demands solutions and a corresponding need for mobile backhaul infrastructure. Usually, the time consuming installation of fiber and its higher cost within urban environments, render traditional fiber backhaul impractical in many cases. Therefore, microwave presents a compelling cost-effective alternative. This is noticeably evident in the developed mobile broadband markets of EMEA and APAC, where carrier competition and increasing bandwidth use are strategic drivers.

Despite the dominant role of traditional point-to-point microwave (PTP) today due to the advantages of performance and capacity, there are many other viable solutions available to support the small cells and access network. For example, millimeter wave equipment could also a good alternative in the near future by solving the backhaul challenge. All outdoor point-to-multipoint (PMP) radios with carrier-grade capabilities are also expected to become a key asset for backhaul links between lamp posts and the sides of buildings where small cells will be installed. In principle, the carrier grade links will allow small cells connectivity via only one-hop in the backhaul and also re-use existing infrastructure, for example connect directly to the point of presence (PoP). Regarding savings, PMP links promise significant OpEx and CapEx reduction over PTP when deployed in medium to short distances, below 2.5km. However, the business case for small cells has yet to be fully demonstrated.

At the end of 2011, Maravedis Research sized the wireless point-to-multipoint (PMP) backhaul equipment revenues market at more than $1 billion by 2016, up from an estimated $200 million in 2011. Maravedis believes the overall PMP wireless backhaul market growth will kick-start in late 2013, driven by the increasing number of commercial LTE deployments combined with the small cell market escalation.

Today, there is a high level of PMP testing activity from operators with several projects running worldwide, anticipating the PMP solution's appeal and the small cells fit. Operators' focus on backhaul is driven by their need to identify new solutions that add more capacity. There were several discussions held on this topic during the recent backhaul event in Berlin at the 14^th Transport Networks for Mobile Operators (TNMO), an EMEA's leading specialist forum for mobile backhaul, RAN and core transport networking professionals.

Orange France (operator) and Intracom Telecom (vendor) intensively discussed the topic along with Bluwan and Siklu during the TNMO event. The operator admitted that PMP gains momentum, with improvements to the technology, cost reductions, evolution of RAN equipment to Ethernet interfaces, and small cell deployment. One of the difficulties that vendors and operators needed to overcome is to prove the PMP small cell business case which should be examined case by case. As Intracom Telecom believes, "there is no technology champion" for small cell backhauling and technology, synergies should be exploited to address effectively operator needs. France Telecom, that has a special focus on microwave (group networks are around 80 percent microwave based), grabbed the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of PMP technology. There was a special weight on the pros; the spectrum license fees can make very significant savings, depending on the country, but also traffic type can affect aggregation efficiency (E1, Ethernet, Wi-Fi backhaul, etc). Furthermore, they highlighted ease to add new sites and the potential savings from reduced maintenance costs (less equipment and lower power consumption). In the cons, a potential item identified was that costs can vary significantly depending on the deployment scenario, green field or swap out. Overall, the operator was keen on the PMP technology, describing deployment and hardware challenges. Among the challenges which operators are facing is that All Outdoor/Zero footprint equipment is not always "Plug and Play." That includes cases with only optical traffic connections and separate power cables supported with non-standard PoE or no lightning protection if directly connected.

A very attractive PMP solution that was a good fit for operator's specs, was that presented by Intracom Telecom, the only vendor supporting both PTP at MW and millimeter bands as wells as PMP integrated transmission platforms. Specifically, the vendor proposed PMP backhaul for small cells following medium to short range (up to 2.5km) and Gigabit sector capacity (4Gb Base station), suggesting scalable and easy installation and dynamic bandwidth allocation per small cell. One of the best rated PMP solutions depending on spectrum availability and Line of Sight (LOS) presence was proposed for the 26/28 GHz frequency bands usually available in most countries. Among the main advantages is the backhaul optimization achievement but also a low-cost solution over the PTP, especially the technology synergies between PMP and E-Band that can achieve a complete mobile backhaul solution. Bluwan discussed a different solution in the 42 GHz presenting the PMP millimeter wave aspect aiming to add high capacity in the Gbps range. Intracom Telecom and Siklu agreed that the 60 GHz (unlicensed) solution is also one of the best rated for small cells with a very small form factor, low cost and higher capacities but also LOS with precise alignment.

In 2012, PMP vendors will continue improving products, testing and demos to prove the essence for more PMP links. More investment is expected to flow in order to accomplish that, but also new movers and shakers might arise driving strategic acquisitions. Competition will lead to higher microwave radio capacity, smaller footprints and efficient management capabilities that will become increasingly important in proving and winning large contracts with mobile operators--mainly in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America and even new markets such as Australia. Although PMP is not the dominant backhaul technology of today, it is expected to rise, playing an important role in the network in 2012 and beyond, supporting the evolution of small cells.

Source: Maravedis: PMP may solve the small cells challenge in the near future - FierceBroadbandWireless http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/maravedis-pmp-may-solve-small-cells-challenge-near-future/2012-06-01#ixzz1wdbyH8eC

Smallcelling LTE networks

Smallcelling the LTE networks?

As the LTE World Summit ended today many questions and takeaways are buzzing our heads from the discussions and experts’ opinions.

There were various statements on small cells but all agreed that small cells need to happen and assist on the capacity and forums like 3GPP, Small Cell Forum are setup to succeed and make small cells a reality

Although there is lots of discussion held on small cells around the 60GHz unlicensed band outdoor solution where small cells are expected to be deployed, in reality the truth might be different. When today about 80% of the mobile data traffic is generated between the residence and the enterprise, there is perhaps a small remaining percentage to consider and manage at the street level. How long the user will be travelling and what services will be using that will need capacity, most likely video is important but not crucial. That thought might lead us into an indoor solution pointing to a femtocell, which will cost almost nothing to the operator since power, transmission and hosting will be covered by the consumer. The cost might might be today around $80, but if companies like Cisco, Samsung even NEC seriously work on the electronics, might be even lower. It is really interesting, how Samsung was trying to position itself in the LTE and small cells due to thousands of deployments indoor and outdoor with KDDI in Japan. Today that LTE network is one of the fastest growing in the world and Samsung is expanding in Europe with an office, they just opened in the UK.

Enterprise networks is a different case, as the quality of service produced by macrocells is not acceptable, making HetNets a more attractive solution to support them. This kind of networks is asking for a high QoS and careful traffic handling.

When it comes to LTE and small cells, there are some recommendations to be further discussed or food for thought.

1. For the backhaul, incumbent is in a position to access fiber backhaul, then the regulator’s position is to set the rules of the game

2.More examination of the backhaul considerations, a crucial factor also in the LTE

3.Harmonized regulation, who can actually run a femto?

4. Identify the exact location of the traffic as close as you can, using the right tools to locate the traffic, available in the industry, as Newfield Wireless was presenting during the Summit

5. Today seems to be difficult to roll out hundreds of small cells; the level of the self-configuration devices need to be considered, optimizing the networks to help on this
6. The impact of devices, including support of advanced features, legacy devices, and time need to install small cells

7. Multivendor support, is an idea that big backhaul vendors such as Ericsson didn’t like, to use different macro and small cells vendor, expecting efficient coordination and interoperability between two layers. Standards are needed to clarify the landscape and make interoperability happen!

Other factors that are expected to contribute in the small cells could be the M2M growth especially due to the upcoming mHealth and its ecosystem’s evolution, trying to understand the management of all these devices. However it is well accepted that licensed spectrum could be inefficient when using M2M in a macro level.

Final note, small cells is still considered a learning process with some hype for operators and needs careful and clear messaging from vendors since it’s a case is different and ‘one technology does not fit all’.