One month core network deployment rockets China's Jilin MCC into 3G business

Jilin MCC, part of China Mobile MCC, was keen to get ahead of its competitors in the race to provide 3G. To achieve its aim it needed a radical overhaul of its HLR facilities.

Part of China Mobile MCC and serving a rapidly growing local economy, Jilin MCC (JLMCC) has 14 million mobile subscribers, forming around 70 percent of the market in Jilin province. When the Chinese government awarded 3G licenses in early 2009, JLMCC was keen to build on its dominant market position by being as early as possible in launching 3G services. Fast time-to-market was critical.

“Thanks to prompt support, deep expertise and highly reliable solutions from Nokia Siemens Networks, Jilin MCC has been able to launch into the critical 3G market with a highly-stable platform that will support our future growth.”

Bo Jin Gang, President of Jilin MCC

However, it faced several challenges in reaching this aim. Its core network elements, in particular its Home Location Registers (HLR), were unable to support a 3G network based on the Chinese TD-SCDMA 3G standard. TD-SCDMA is a new technology for JLMCC, and it needed a stable core network and technology solution that would provide a smooth upgrade path to future technologies such as LTE and IP Multimedia.

Furthermore, JLMCC’s installed base of 15 HLRs from another vendor had been suffering severe stability problems, with JLMCC encountering difficulties in obtaining the latest software for them. JLMCC customers had been experiencing frequent dropped calls and new subscribers sometimes were unable to connect to the network because of loss of data in the HLRs. The level of customer complaints that were being generated was unacceptable to JLMCC.

Essentially, JLMCC wanted a more stable network, one that was more efficient and that would save energy, as well as being technically capable of supporting future technologies.

Challenges

  • Jilin MCC aimed to launch 3G services, but its current core network, particularly Home Location Registers (HLR), did not support the licensed TD-SCDMA standard
  • To protect and grow leading market share against its rivals, JLMCC needed to deploy its 3G services very rapidly
  • A stable, secure and advanced core network solution was vital to eliminate customer complaints and support its future growth strategy

Catching the competition within one month

With time pressing, JLMCC chose Nokia Siemens Networks’ to replace its existing HLRs. As well as our commitment to a rapid installation, a key factor in JLMCC’s decision to engage Nokia Siemens Networks was our strong local presence, together with a high level of expertise in swapping out HLRs, gained from a large number of projects globally.

The solution involved swapping out JLMCC’s existing HLRs for 10 Nokia Siemens Networks HLRs located in four cities, all of which provide service to both 2G and 3G users. A new server was also supplied to provide redundancy for the main HLRs.

Solution

  • Strong technical support from local Nokia Siemens Networks team plus global expertise ensures JLMCC’s needs are met fully
  • Ten Nokia Siemens Networks HLRs to provide service to both 2G and 3G customers
  • Rapid delivery and swap over of HLRs in one month, one third of the time conventionally needed
  • A new server providing redundancy for the main HLRs to achieve less than one hour downtime per year for the HLR solution
  • On-site training to improve competence of operations and maintenance staff

With the work to transfer data and install new products, a swap of this nature would normally take about three months. Nokia Siemens Networks completed the job in one month, from signing the contract to changeover of the HLRs, by working round the clock with no days off. No other vendor could offer this level of dedication to meet JLMCC’s timetable.

Already, the superior quality and stability of the Nokia Siemens Networks HLRs is bringing benefits to JLMCC, with no outages and no complaints received from customers switched over to the new HLRs. Nokia Siemens Networks is able to guarantee less than one hour downtime per year for the HLR system.

The solution included on-site training to improve the skill of JLMCC’s operations and maintenance staff, as well as care and data network optimization services.

Benefits

  • Fast-track HLR project enabled JLMCC to launch early into the 3G market to meet competitor pressure
  • Zero outages and virtually no complaints from customers; less than one hour downtime per year
  • Meet same-SIM promise to subscribers moving to 3G
  • 15% increase in subscribers since changeover
  • Software HLR upgrades will reduce JLMCC’s capital investments by 30% over the next three years

Keeping the customer promise of one-SIM

“The rapid deployment by Nokia Siemens Networks of its HLRs has given us the opportunity to launch 3G services early, backed by a major marketing campaign, and catching our competitors by surprise,” explains Bo Jin Gang, President of Jilin MCC.

The solution also enables JLMCC to keep one of its most important customer promises – that subscribers would not have to change their SIM or phone number to enjoy the benefits of 3G and would only require a new handset. The Nokia Siemens Networks HLRs ensured that JLMCC could meet this commitment.

 

 

Supporting technology evolution with 30 percent lower investment

Already, since the changeover of the HLRs, JLMCC has enjoyed a 15 percent increase in subscriber numbers. Future increases in HLR capacity can be catered for through software upgrades alone, which is forecast to reduce JLMCC’s capital investments by 30 percent over the next three years.

The HLR solution will support JLMCC’s planned evolution to LTE technologies as well as the addition of Distributed HLR, which will make the network even more secure by avoiding a single point of failure.

“Nokia Siemens Networks is now our biggest vendor of core network infrastructure. With its high quality of service, low delivery time and site training, coupled with its clear roadmap to support our growing business, we are happy to have them as our strategic partner,” concludes Bo Jin Gang.