Turnkey network expansion helps win one million new customers in three months

Focusing on the budget end of the market, one communications service provider (CSP) needed to find the most cost-effective way of expanding its network into new regions, where the equipment faces some of the toughest environmental conditions on Earth."

“Nokia Siemens Networks successfully answered one of our biggest questions about the implementation of the new network. The Flexi Multiradio Base Station solution enables us to save so much in building the coverage for the new regions, because it does not require additional climate protection.”

 

Senior executive at the CSP

Winning new GSM licenses has given one challenger CSP a great opportunity to target huge new audiences with its low-cost, easy-to-use services. But this means keeping a tight rein on its own costs as it expands its network. What’s more, the company’s network infrastructure needs to withstand some of the world’s harshest climates, with temperatures in some remote rural regions routinely reaching a frigid -50°C.

Although the CSP does not have a 3G license, it is also hoping to win LTE licenses when they become available, so it needs to have the right systems in place to provide a smooth transition to an all-IP network when the time comes.

Challenges

  • The CSP needs to reach new geographical markets as cost-effectively as possible, since its business model relies on competing on price
  • The network covers some of the most environmentally hostile areas of the world
  • The CSP aims to migrate to a more efficient all-IP transmission network, which means any transmission equipment bought today must be IP-ready
  • The transition to all-IP also requires an upgrade in the core network
  • A period of rapid growth requires careful planning to match investment to demand

Coping with the big freeze
For the radio network, Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi base stations provided the most cost effective answer, especially after laboratory tests showed that they CSPcould function – and even start up - at the required temperatures without the need for heating or other protection.*

As well as saving on shelters and heating systems, the feederless Flexi BTS can be mounted directly on the transmission antenna, increasing the effective transmission power at the mast head. This increases cell size and reduces the overall number of base station sites needed to provide the required coverage.

Turnkey project for rapid roll out
The turnkey network solution from Nokia Siemens Networks enabled a rapid rollout to all the planned regions. This has strengthened the already good relationship between the two companies, which has seen Nokia Siemens Networks acting as sole supplier since 2003.

Solution

  • Feederless Flexi base station technology reduces signal attenuation
  • These robust base stations can function in the harshest conditions without external protection or heating
  • Flexi base stations come complete with IP interfaces
  • The existing core network was migrated to an all-IP, Rel4 system

 

The extended network soon attracted new subscribers, with more than one million customers joining the CSP within a single quarter in 2009. The vast majority of these were from the newly-covered regions.

“We feel confident in the capabilities of Nokia Siemens Networks and trust them to continue to meet our stringent requirements, as they have done in recent years,” says a senior manager at the CSP.

Benefits

  • Flexi base stations maximize radio coverage and reduce the number of sites, minimizing investment and operating costs
  • Flexi base stations do not need shelters or heating, in spite of the harsh climate, further reducing investment and operating costs
  • Flexi base stations have built-in IP interfaces. Evolving to all-IP needs only a software upgrade, minimizing future investments

All-IP core brings down costs
As part of its strategy to control costs and prepare for a transition to all-IP across its entire network, the CSP also needed to swap its core network for a 3GPP R4-compliant system. Beyond the core, the Flexi base stations now in place come complete with IP interfaces, making it straightforward to adapt them in future.

Moving to all-IP improves efficiency and makes it more cost-effective to carry extra traffic and introduce new services.

 

* The performance of equipment under extreme conditions should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.