LTE: Challenges with 2300 MHz

Technical and Economic Implications of Band 40

Table of contents

i. Global presence on the basis of frequency bands

ii. LTE Global subscriptions – region wise

iii. Significance of bands across developed LTE networks

iv. Operating frequency band Vs. Coverage

v. Site count Impact : Chennai : 2300 MHz Vs. 700 MHz

vi. Impact of Ecosystem

vii. Impact on CAPEX/ OPEX

i. Complexities with regard to IRAT

ii. Backhaul

viii. Interference management

i. Spectrum Allocation specific to Aircel

ix. In Summary - Operational challenges with 2300 MHz

Lets get started1

LTE Global presence across frequency bands

CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States ; MENA : Middle East North Africa ; SSA : Sub Saharan Africa

LTE Global subscriptions by regions

Growth in Asia Pacific is primarily due to India, China & South Korea besides

Taiwan, Russia and its only through better coverage that we can have widespread 4G influence.

For a capital intensive market like telecom, the question is

‘how to provide widespread coverage with least investment?’

LTE Scenario : Europe : Significance of bands

0.9

1.8

2.1

0.9

1.8

2.1

0.9

1.8

2.1

0.9

2.1

1.8 1.8

0.9

50TDD

700 – 900

MHz

1700 – 2100

MHz

2300 - 2700

MHz

Pure Coverage

• MU/SU/Rural

• Good Penetration

Coverage/Capacity

• MU/SU Presence

• Capacity/coverage.

Pure Capacity

• DU Presence

• Poor Penetration

Era OrangePlus Play Centernet Aero2

67 to 62 MHz 40 MHz 112

MHz

* Bands broken up 1 Total view of UL + DL 2 Based on 2014 actual customers. COUNTRY - POLAND.

0.8

Sferia

20 (UL) + 30 (DL) MHz TDD-LTE

2×20 MHz FDD-LTE

FREQUENCY

VS. COVERAGEHow about some stats?

LTE : Operating frequency Vs. Coverage

700 MHz

DL power

UL power (typical limitation for coverage)

×9 ×6 ×4.5 ×1.1

900 MHz 800 MHz (digital dividend)

2.3

GHz

2.3 GHz

“Availability of bandwidth for LTE”

Large

Coverage Area

Small

Coverage Area

LowHigh

190 MHz

2.1 GHz 1.8 GHz

2×60 MHz 2×75 MHz 2×35 MHz 2×30 MHz

2.3 GHz requires 9 times the site density to match 700MHz.

LTE : 2300 MHz Vs. 700MHZ : ’Chennai’ Coverage

700 MHz FDD

ClutterChennai Area(Sq.

Kms)FDD Cell Radius(Kms)

Area Per Site(Sq.Kms

)No. of Sites

DU 26.66 0.54 0.57 47

MU 213.75 0.91 1.61 133

SU 56.18 1.30 3.30 17

RU 0.77 0.63 48.20 1

Total 297.36 198

2300 MHz TDD

ClutterChennai Area(Sq.

Kms)TDD Cell Radius(Kms)

Area Per Site(Sq.Kms

)No. of Sites

DU 26.66 0.16 0.05 534

MU 213.75 0.28 0.15 1398

SU 56.18 0.70 0.96 59

RU 0.77 2.04 8.12 1

Total 297.36 1992

LTE: Impact of a Mature Ecosystem

“The table illustrates the

number of available devices

across available LTE bands. It

is quite evident that the

ecosystem for lower frequency

bands is more developed

which means more number of

devices are present at lower

bands, hence, lower priced

handsets compared to ‘Band

40’, too “

• Lower demand

worldwide leads to

costlier production of

handsets and thereby

fewer subscribers.

• In a capital intensive

market this can be

detrimental.

More CAPEX

•Equipment (baseband, radio, antennas) at each site

•Shelter, Air Conditioning, Battery at each site

•Backhaul – Connectivity with core network (cost Vs. performance)

Increased OPEX

•More Rental and running cost

•More trained staff for network planning and maintenance

•More site visits for preventive and fault handling

•Energy Efficiency

•Significant part of OPEX

•Included Market, regulatory and customer requirements (especially for small cells)

Interoperability

Interworking nodes between different networks

Network Densification (Cont.)

6 A tier-1 operator in Europe typically spends around 60% of revenue in OPEX. The burden will surely increase

with LTE and LTE-A

o LTE : Band 40 : Impact on CapEx/OpEx

As the number of network nodes go-up

It is extremely challenging to maintain and

optimize such networks

1. Number of Neighbor Relationships grow

exponentially

2. Coverage / Capacity trade-offs between

different network layers

3. Complex dynamic traffic patterns and low

base station utilization

LTE : Band 40 : Complexities : IRAT Layer

Increasing radio network complexity casts its shadow on the backhaul

- More base stations, more backhaul links -

• Puts additional complexity burden on backhaul

• ICIC and CoMP (Coordinated Multipoint) – Needed to sustain a good user experience at cell edge

• Needed - Real time co-ordination between huge number of base stations

• Needed - Low latency on backhaul also is to be maintained

• All base stations need sub-frame level co-ordination

• All clocks need to be in phase

• Common reference needed from backhaul

LTE : Band 40 : Complexities : Backhaul & Radio

◦Higher base station density, more Interference

◦Bigger guard band is needed in TDD technology to avoid interference

◦Difficult to control and maintain coverage area, tilt, power and placement of

small form factor base stations

◦Particularly difficult to optimize Cell Edge users performance

◦Terminal assigned to macro, sees strong interference from micro, especially, if

micro serves a CSG and the UE is not allowed to latch on to it

◦Allocation of frequencies in this band is too close and may lead to inter-

operator interference.

LTE : Band 40 : Complexities : Interference Management

Scenario depicted in the following slide

Qualcomm (Airtel)

Tikona

Augere

Aircel

Airtel

Mumbai

Delhi

Kolkata

LTE : Band 40 : Spectrum Allocation

LTE in India- The Operational Challenge – In summary

◦LTE on 2300MHz will require high density of BTS

to offer sufficient coverage

▫LTE on 2300MHz has limited coverage with lower

wall penetration

▫Complex and Interference prone

◦2300MHz LTE solution – unlikely to benefit from

scale of ecosystem as devices available for this

band are relatively fewer

• Voice over LTE have not been fully developed

so there is a dependence on 3G/2G for CSFB

LTE coverage likely to be enhanced with fallback

on 3G, however, it’ll come with some drawbacks

▫User Experience is limited because of nomadic

coverage through mix of LTE/3G/2G

▫Issue is more prominent while on higher frequency

bands

Economics of 2300Mhz could strain LTE business case

in short-medium term

LET’S REVIEW SOME CONCEPTS

CoverageKey to laying the foundation.

Useful for widespread 4G

influence.

Lower frequency >> Better

coverage

More Bandwidth in Higher

Frequencies

EcosystemDevices available across

spectrums.

Less devices relatively for Band

40.

OverheadsMore deployment means

extensive care.

More running costs.

CAPEXMore number of BTS >> More

hardware >> More CAPEX

ComplexityIRAT, Backhaul, Maintainance

become difficult

Design2300 MHz viewed as capacity

layer across mature LTE

Networks.

Thanks!

ANY QUESTIONS?

You can find me at

karan.ahluwalia@hotmail.com

EduVantage

Questions?