Connecting Wireless to the Wired Network 03-06-13 CLEAN2

CONNECTING THE WIRELESS TO THE WIRED NETWORK

By: Russ SchomberVP Network Services, Backhaul Services Group

Overview

Todays Wireless Networks• Cell Tower Density Nationally & Locally• Typical Cell Tower Installations• Cell Tower Backhaul

• Fiber • Microwave

• New England Fiber Networks• The Mobile Switching Center – MSC• Data Demand Growth

• Tomorrow’s Wireless Networks• Small Cells• Wi-Fi Offload

3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 2

National Cell Tower Map: ~250k towers


Cell Towers in MA

Rank Operator Nationwide Towers1 Crown Castle 22,251

2 American Tower 22,059

3 SBA Communications** 14,842

4 AT&T Towers 10,690

5 T-Mobile Towers 8,782

6 Global Tower Partners 5,683

7 United States Cellular Co. 4,802

8 Verizon Wireless 1,400

9 Time Warner 950

10 Mediacom Communications 750


Typical Cell Tower Installations


Atypical cell towers…


Cell Tower Equipment on the Ground

• Pre-fab shelters or Outdoor Equipment Cabinets


…somewhere in Westborough….


Cell Tower Backhaul

• You have to get that wireless service somewhere!• First preference is Fiber to the Tower• Next is Microwave, Ethernet over Copper, Ethernet over

CATV, and T1s where nothing else is available• Ethernet over SONET is quickly being replaced• Carriers quickly migrating from TDM to Carrier Ethernet• Previous bandwidth per tower: 5-8 T1’s, 10MB-15MB• Today’s demands: 20MB to 50MB per carrier, 3-5 carriers

per tower, total demand of 100MB to 250MB per tower• One Carrier: 100MB per tower minimum nationwide• Future demands: Varies but forecasted to be 1GB at

towers in metro areas


Cell Tower Backhaul

• Some Wireless Service Providers (WSPs) are self building their backhaul networks:• Microwave• Leasing dark fiber directly• Combo of self build and leased

• Microwave is more prevalent in hard to reach areas and in the edges of suburbia and in rural areas

• Make / Buy Fiber vs. Microwave:• Aerial fiber construction: $35k per mile + Make Ready costs• 200MB MW radio shot $25k - $35k


Mobile Switching Center (MSC) Network

Each WSP has severalMSC’s in the region.

If your call is “in region”it will be passed fromMSC to MSC over fiberthen out to the userover the wirelessnetwork.


Cell Tower Backhaul – Fiber Installation

• Fiber connected to equipment in an weather proof enclosure

• Some vendors now making an all in one unit: fiber splice tray, power supplies, Carrier Ethernet network element.

• Hand off to customer over fiber pair on 1GE interface


Cell Tower Backhaul - Microwave

• Microwave Technology keeps improving annually• New radio modulation techniques pack more into every bit

transmitted• Transmission is a tradeoff between distance and

frequency from 6GH to 60GHZ• Lower the frequency, the longer you can transmit• Licensed and unlicensed spectrum• Examples:

• 6GHz shot – 20 miles• 24GHz shot – 5 miles• BW ranges from 150MB to 1GE



• Typical rooftop installation


Cell Tower Backhaul Challenges

• Site Acquisition – negotiating & dealing with tower and building owners

• Right of Way & Easement issues - getting the fiber to the tower, getting fiber to the roof

• Tower structural analysis• Engineering Line of Site (LOS) Analysis: via software

then a physical check• Operational Aspect – techs that can climb towers• Disaster Recovery – Reliance on mobile communications

has increased the reliability requirements for the mobile networks, i.e. backup power – Super Storm Sandy

• Making the Business Case work! $$$


Line of Sight Analysis by computer


So why don’t we just build more fiber?

We are but…• Congestion: This MSC has 7 fiber

providers entering it – no more room on the poles!

• Make Ready work can be $$$• If the antenna is on a building, can

be expensive to get to the roof• Dealing with private landlords /

landowners• At the end of the day, the business

case needs to work, needs to justify the investment


Data Traffic Growth

Source: 02-06-13 Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast• Projects 13-Fold Growth in Global Mobile Internet Data Traffic from

2012 - 2017• Nearly Half of All Cellular Traffic Will Be Off-loaded to Fixed or

Wi-Fi Networks by 2017; 4G Expected to Support Nearly 10 Percent of All Mobile Connections by 2017

• More mobile connections: By 2017, there will be more than 10 billion mobile devices/connections, including more than 1.7 billion M2M connections (up from 7 billion total mobile devices and M2M connections in 2012).

• Faster mobile speeds: Average global mobile network speeds will increase seven-fold from 2012 (0.5 Mbps) to 2017 (3.9 Mbps).

• More mobile video: By 2017, mobile video will represent 66 percent of global mobile data traffic (up from 51 percent in 2012)


Enter Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload

• LTE Macro base stations are expensive ~$200k• If we can offload some of the traffic onto femto cells

(house or office), small cells (shopping mall, main street, parks, beaches) this gives more breathing room on the existing macro cell towers.

• Sprint has deployed over 1 million femto cells in users homes. Leverages the consumers broadband connection; becomes part of the ‘Sprint Network’.

• Small Cell Coverage: ~1000’ diameter• Wi-Fi Coverage: ~250’ diameter• Can spend <$200k, deploy quicker, get better coverage


Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload




• Seeing more and more of this• AT&T Wi-Fi in Starbucks• Free Wi-Fi in most retail stores• Municipal installations in cities

and towns


• Wi-Fi offload is moving faster than small cell• Major Wireless Operators still looking at small cell

technology• Need to have a uniform network, management, reporting• Cover all of the gaps, ensure good customer experience• Understand and address interference issues where macro cell

coverage overlaps the small cell coverage area

• Several trials ongoing in the US• UK is ahead of the US on trials and deployments



Opportunities for small cells:• Areas with restrictive zoning for new large towers• Cover portions of lightly populated areas where it make

the most sense• Fix holes in coverage due to geography that adding

another tower just wont fix:• Costal areas• Valleys• Cities with tall buildings• Environmentally sensitive areas• National Parks




• Small Cell Antennas typically do not cover an area uniformly. There is a coverage pattern to the antenna. This model has a 60 coverage pattern or lobe.

• Just like with Macro celltowers, the RF coverageareas need to be thoroughlyengineered for small cells


Planned Wi-Fi offload trial we are looking at for Plymouth MA


…but they are just part of the solution

Challenges with Small Cells and Wi-Fi offload:• Site Acquisition: Getting on the Lamp Post – easier said

then done• Getting fiber to the Lamp Post – wireless Line of Site

(LOS) or Non Line of Sight (NLOS) technologies rule here• Where is my backup power? There isn't…• Signal Congestion – need to ensure the user has an

improved experience; interference between the Macros cell zone and the small cell zone – seamless transfer

• It’s a bit of a land grab now – don’t want multiple devices cluttering up the poles


The Future: More Wireless and more Fiber!

• More wireless at the edges to offload the core wireless network

• More fiber and microwave to increase capacity wherever a cell antenna is located

• More BW capacity between MSC’s, 100GB links over fiber• More BW capacity between MSC’s and content providers

(over Fiber): Internet, Amazon, Google, Facebook


Shameless Plug

• Backhaul Service Group: Startup focusing on cell tower backhaul, small cells, and Wi-Fi offload in New England

• Focus is to leverage BTOP stimulus funded networks to provide these services• Maine• New Hampshire• Western & Central Massachusetts• Cape Cod

• Planning small cell / Wi-Fi offload trials in Plymouth and Provincetown MA this summer


Thank You!

Contact:Alan Davis, CEO and President, [email protected] (508) 380-0601Russ Schomber, VP Network Services [email protected] (617) 413-7850

Backhaul Services Group1900 West Park Drive, Suite 280, Westborough, MA 01581508-983-1466www.BackhaulServicesGroup.com


Connecting Wireless to the Wired Network 03-06-13 CLEAN2

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