ALU Hosted Mobile Core

8102019 ALU Hosted Mobile Core

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HOSTEDMOBILE COREA PATH TO LTE FORREGIONAL PROVIDERSSTRATEGIC WHITE PAPER

As subscribers become more demanding of their mobile devices including robust

Internet access and real-time rich multimedia communications the need for wireless

network operators to add capacity and multimedia support features is no longer a

ldquonice-to-haverdquo it is an imperative However as the need to get serious about LTE

deployments becomes more obvious much of the discussion around supporting

LTE services is focused on RAN issues such as small cell deployments and spectrum

constraints While vitally important the need to support ubiquitous broadband access

via radio links also mandates that those links be supported with equally robust backhaul

and mobile core networks Without these latter two pieces the mobile broadband

service delivery model breaks

To help overcome the high cost of deploying maintaining and operating LTE networks

a variety of wholesale backhaul and site sharing schemes are being utilized to defraycosts in the RAN and backhaul However this still leaves the daunting challenge of

building maintaining and operating a next generation mobile core ndash or evolved packet

core (EPC) ndash unaddressed The focus of this paper is to examine shared or hosted

core opportunities that can be particularly useful to smaller regional wireless service

providers as they seek to provide cutting edge mobile broadband services to their

customers and compete with large national incumbent operators



Hosted Mobile Core A path to LTE for regional providers

ALCATEL-LUCENT WHITE PAPER

1

DESCRIPTION 991251 WHAT IS AN EVOLVEDPACKET CORE

At a high level an EPC network contains the followingnetwork elements

bull Packet Gateway (PGW) ndash Serves as the IP anchor point for bearer networks

bull Serving Gateway (SGW) ndash Acts as the local mobility anchor for inter-eNode B

(ie LTE base station) handoffs

bull Mobility Management Entity (MME) ndash Handles inter-core network node

signaling for mobility between 2G 3G and LTE bearers

bull Home Subscriber Server (HSS) ndash Houses authentication location tracking

and subscriber subscription data

bull Subscriber Profile Repository (SPR) ndash Houses subscription data for policy

and charging

bull Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) ndash Controls QoS resources for policy

decisions such as gating flow based charging etc

EPC deployment drivers

Although 3G rollouts might have been the rifle shot that started the smartphone

revolution LTE will clearly be the key enabler of widespread adoption As of the end

of 2011 it became equally clear that LTE was in the near-term deployment plans for

operators around the world Consider the following statistics

bull LTE services launched by 49 operators in 29 countries

bull 226 operators in 76 countries committed to LTE as their path to 4G

bull LTE subscribers forecast to exceed 597 million in 2016 (see chart below)

LTE

600

700

500

S u b s c r i p t i o n s ( m i l l i o n s )

400

300

2010A 2011E

WORLDWIDE LTE SUBSCRIPTIONS

2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E 2016E

200

100

0

Source Pyramid Research 2011





2

As LTE is increasingly deployed and smartphones become more widely adopted the widely

recognized ldquoYrdquo chart (as depicted below) illustrates the disconnect occurring between data traffic

and operator revenue that will only become more pronounced

Compounding the problem is that as LTE radio networks are built out the need for a robust

mobile core becomes paramount Of course the challenge then becomes how to pay for robust

RAN backhaul and core assets in the face of a rapidly deteriorating economic model

Q u a n t i t y

Time

Datadominant

Traffic

Revenue

Cellular operatorrevenue and

trafficdecoupled

Voicedominant

Source Heavy Reading 2011





3

The end-to-end path

One way to achieve cost synergies is to select an equipment supplier that can provide a

turnkey solution Alcatel-Lucent is one of the few vendors in the world today that can

supply a truly best-of-breed LTE solution encompassing all of the required RAN backhaul

core and professional services elements

Going this route contains many benefits to the operator including

bull Risk mitigation via delivery of a fully tested solution

bull Synergized architecture and requirements

bull Faster time to market which enables faster time to money

bull Fewer northbound interfaces per OSS

bull Reduced OAM interfaces with common functions

bull Faster problem resolution and streamlined network optimization

bull Validated ecosystem

DEVICES ACCESS BACKHAUL EPC TRANSPORT IMS APPSENABLEMENT

END-TO-END MANAGEMENT

END-TO-END SUBSCRIBER MANAGEMENT

bull Risk mitigation ndash delivery of fully tested solution


bull Instrument-rich network architecture (eg percall measurement data visibility into devices)

bull New business models

bull Faster time to market (time to money)



bull Faster problem resolution






4

Alternative paths The benefits of a hosted core

For many regional operators however self-funding an entire end-to-end LTE network is an

untenable option In such cases Alcatel-Lucent can also serve as a key partner in helping to take

advantage of a hosted core solution

At its root a hosted core solution can be structured in approximately the following manner

bull

Local operator purchases RANbull A regional network operator buys core

bull Regional operator and a number of localized operators share core resources

In the scenario described above the regional operator could consist of a holding company

that owns several wireless properties across a particular region of the country Additionally

consortiums of smaller operators have been known to band together to purchase large backbone

networks which are then shared by the operators in the consortium The same concept can be

applied to a hosted core arrangement

The economic benefits associated with going the hosted core route can be dramatic asdepicted below

Core

Engineeringservices

(Itrsquosreally tiny)

amp

RAN

SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS

50-60 LESS

CORE RENTAL

UP-FRONT CAPEX SAVINGS OF $15 MILLION OR MORE





5

Success in action West Central Wireless San Angelo Texas

Starting with Analog Mobile Phone Systems 20 years ago West Central Wireless has progressed

to offering TDMA- and CDMA-hosted services to neighboring rural cellular operators They are

currently implementing an Alcatel-Lucent LTE EPC consisting of a HHS S-Gateway (S-GW)

P-Gateway (P-GW) charging gateway MME and aggregation router Concurrently they are in

process of finalizing hosted EPC agreements with neighboring carriers

ldquoWith relatively affordable transport why would a rural carrier want to purchase and maintain an

expensive gateway and backhaul LTE signaling when they can leverage signaling capacity from an

existing hosted solution provided by an experienced hosted solution providerrdquo said Griff Griffen

technical operations manager at West Central WirelessldquoAlcatel Lucentrsquos Advanced Network

Management capability allows for view only access and full control over their eNodeBrdquo

West Central Wireless completed installation of their EPC in June and currently has one LTE test

site on the air Given the uncertainties related to LTE handset availability and interoperability their

initial Q4 2012 deployment will consist of fixed LTE data services targeting small business with

wireless modem-type devices

In addition to price Griffen said that ldquobackhaul cost and experience providing hosted solutionsrdquo

tend to be the key criteria carriers use for making a hosted solution decision ldquoCustomers data

usage will start ramping up as they start using Hulu and Netflix on mobile devices With limited

capex most rural carriers are going to be looking for capex savings options and a hosted EPC

solution will reduce capex while allowing carrier to allocate investment in cell site backhaul and

BST capacity to meet customer mobile data demandrdquo

About West Central Wireless

In July 2012 San Angelo Texas-based West Central Wireless celebrated its 25th year anniversary

as a Central Texas coop owned rural cellular operator Today they have 40000 subscribers and an

estimated 200 cell sites of which roughly 60 are owned and operated by West Central Wireless

Why do you believe it is important for rural carriers to offer LTE

ldquoRural America needs access to high speed broadband data services And for rural carriers to

survive they need to be able to deliver these services to their customers Moreover rural America

needs rural carriers to survive LTE is the logical and economical delivery mechanism for these

servicesrdquo

Why should rural carriers consider hosted EPC

ldquoThe heart of a LTE network is the EPC which requires a significant capital investment to

purchase and install and an ongoing operational commitment and expense to maintain As cost

reimbursement mechanisms continue to become unstable it is not feasible for many rural carriers

to make this financial commitment The modular architecture of the EPC makes core hosting a

viable solution for these carriersrdquo





1

DESCRIPTION 991251 WHAT IS AN EVOLVEDPACKET CORE

At a high level an EPC network contains the followingnetwork elements

bull Packet Gateway (PGW) ndash Serves as the IP anchor point for bearer networks

bull Serving Gateway (SGW) ndash Acts as the local mobility anchor for inter-eNode B

(ie LTE base station) handoffs

bull Mobility Management Entity (MME) ndash Handles inter-core network node

signaling for mobility between 2G 3G and LTE bearers

bull Home Subscriber Server (HSS) ndash Houses authentication location tracking

and subscriber subscription data

bull Subscriber Profile Repository (SPR) ndash Houses subscription data for policy

and charging

bull Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) ndash Controls QoS resources for policy

decisions such as gating flow based charging etc

EPC deployment drivers

Although 3G rollouts might have been the rifle shot that started the smartphone

revolution LTE will clearly be the key enabler of widespread adoption As of the end

of 2011 it became equally clear that LTE was in the near-term deployment plans for

operators around the world Consider the following statistics

bull LTE services launched by 49 operators in 29 countries

bull 226 operators in 76 countries committed to LTE as their path to 4G

bull LTE subscribers forecast to exceed 597 million in 2016 (see chart below)

LTE

600

700

500

S u b s c r i p t i o n s ( m i l l i o n s )

400

300

2010A 2011E

WORLDWIDE LTE SUBSCRIPTIONS

2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E 2016E

200

100

0

Source Pyramid Research 2011





2







Q u a n t i t y

Time

Datadominant

Traffic

Revenue


trafficdecoupled

Voicedominant






3

The end-to-end path





























4






bull









Core

Engineeringservices


amp

RAN


50-60 LESS

CORE RENTAL






5






























servicesrdquo











2







Q u a n t i t y

Time

Datadominant

Traffic

Revenue


trafficdecoupled

Voicedominant






3

The end-to-end path





























4






bull









Core

Engineeringservices


amp

RAN


50-60 LESS

CORE RENTAL






5






























servicesrdquo











3

The end-to-end path





























4






bull









Core

Engineeringservices


amp

RAN


50-60 LESS

CORE RENTAL






5






























servicesrdquo











4






bull









Core

Engineeringservices


amp

RAN


50-60 LESS

CORE RENTAL






5






























servicesrdquo











5






























servicesrdquo







Date post:	02-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
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ALU Hosted Mobile Core

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