Multi-layer Network Becomes an Inevitable Trend

In this mobile broadband (MBB) era, a huge number of new services and applications have emerged, which have changed user behavior. According to GSMA, the data traffic volume will increase by 20 times by 2020. Operators usually face the following problems: 

• Traffic requirements of super hot spots still cannot be met after the multi-sector, multi-channel, and other capacity expansion technologies are used.
• Poor coverage areas feature fragmented distribution. Deployment of legacy macro sites is no longer applicable to improve the coverage.
• The longstanding issues of site acquisition and property admission make construction of macro sites even more difficult.

The following figure shows the causes of site construction difficulties in China.

Operators must transform networks from pure macro site models into multi-layer networks to provide better user experience, improve network competitiveness, and prepare for the 5G-oriented evolution in the future. Building multi-layer networks is inevitable.

Outdoor Pole Sites Dominate the Intermediate Layer of Wireless Networks

Insights into markets suggest that enormous resources are available around the globe for site deployment, including approximately 1 billion power and street light poles, 100 million monitoring and transmission poles, 10 million phone booths, and 10 million billboards. Most of the poles already possess the core elements required to deploy a site, such as power and transmission resources, and right of way (ROW). These poles are inherently optimal for site locations. Operators can design innovative business models to set up a site ecosystem for quick site resource acquisition.

It is estimated that the number of outdoor pole sites will exceed that of the traditional tower sites by 2020, and outdoor pole sites will become the mainstream for the intermediate network layer.

Data source: ABI Research 2016, CR-HUAW-134

Huawei Scenario-specific Site Solutions Allow Quick Site Deployment to Increase the Site Density

To build multi-layer networks, operators must solve many problems, including the difficult acquisition of traditional sites (limited types of sites, low efficiency, and usually a long waiting period of 6–18 months), no auxiliary power and transmission facilities, high infrastructure costs (35% of the CPAX), high rent (40% of the OPEX), and limited site value (site resources must be fully used by setting up open and value-added platforms). To help operators solve these problems, Huawei offers scenario-specific site solutions. These solutions can help customers reduce costs, such as in site acquisition, leasing, and infrastructure, to increase the amount of investment available for the main devices of sites. In this way, customers can reconstruct the site TCO and quickly increase the site density, improving network coverage as well as user experience. 

Pole resources enable quick site deployment with low costs in urban areas. Different types of poles with unique characteristics can be selected for different application scenarios. In the future, deployment of pole sites will be an essential way of adding sites in urban areas, and poles will become strategic resources for competition between operators. 

New Scenario-Specific Site Solutions from Huawei Include Five Types of Sites

Lighting pole sites

Many site resources are available for lighting pole sites. Operators can negotiate for the resources in batches instead of selecting sites one by one, greatly reducing site acquisition costs. Reuse of light poles reduces civil engineering workload by more than 80% and TCO by 30%. Due to their cylindrical shape, lighting pole sites are environmentally friendly and enable easy installation and fast deployment, lowering the site loss rate.

Aggregation sites

Power and transmission resources required by sites are deployed on convergence nodes in a centralized manner, simplifying power transmission and saving 75% of the investment. This simplifies and accelerates site deployment. Aggregation sites are deployed using fixed network facilities. If both power and a fiber to the curb (FTTC) cabinet are available, the cabinet can be transformed into a convergence cabinet using the cabinet-embedded reconstruction package (providing power distribution, heat dissipation function, and fiber management trays). If only an FTTC cabinet is available, splitters can be used to split optical fibers to provide optical transmission for base stations. 

Tube sites

Wireless devices are embedded in light poles and are therefore environmentally friendly and the operator can easily obtain permission for installation in sensitive areas. Unlike macro sites, tube sites do not need to be installed on rooftops and can reduce the required footprint by over 90%, decreasing OPEX.

Intelligent sites

Intelligent sites are pole sites with additional valuable characteristics. Open platforms for these sites make new business models possible, which can stimulate the site economy. By value exchange between the stakeholders sharing the platform resources, operators can improve the site acquisition rate. 

VillaRadio

Book RRU is the first micro RRU, and it allows the VillaRadio to be small in size and lightweight. VillaRadio can fit harmoniously into its environment, especially in residential areas. 

This type of site adopts photoelectric hybrid cables, which enable the simultaneous deployment of both the power supply and transmission resources for remote Book RRUs. 

Just by upgrading the software, VillaRadio can smoothly evolve from GSM to UMTS and then to LTE. VillaRadio deployment can quickly improve the network experience in residential areas.

Huawei's New Scenario-Specific Site Solutions Have Already Been Widely Used Around the World

In Thailand, the mobile user penetration rate is 146.7%, and the smartphone penetration rate is 85%. The development of mobile broadband has led to a rapid increase in the 3G/4G user base and the operators' networks are increasingly congested. To relieve the congestion, Huawei has provided innovative site solutions based on the local pole resources. Until now, over 3000 sites have been quickly deployed, increasing the network capacity by 50%. A return on investment will be received within two years.

In Argentina, the population is served by a small number of sites. Site acquisition is difficult and time-consuming because it requires approval from the government and all proprietors in the buildings affected, the process takes more than six months on average. Operators can fulfill only 60% of their site addition objectives each year. As a consultant to the government on ICT economy development, Huawei helped both the government to activate municipal resources and the operators to acquire sites in batches. The government granted operators permission for site deployment in office buildings and on light poles, and usage of municipal transmission resources free of charge. This significantly reduced the operators' rent. Operators chose Easy Macro to match the available pole resources, which readily adapted to the various scenarios. This solution doubled the network construction efficiency.

In the Philippines, an operator overcame the deployment challenges of difficult site acquisition, long deployment periods (8 months per site), and heavy investment in projects. Huawei advised the customer to use fixed-and-wireless aggregation sites to rise to the challenges. Fixed network sites already had transmission resources, power supplies, ROW, and other resources required for wireless network sites. Using the site cabinets for multiple purposes greatly decreased construction costs, maximizing the resource efficiency and reducing the ROI to 1.9 years.

In China, with insufficient in-depth coverage of 4G networks, China Mobile faced many obstacles to the commercial use of VoLTE. At the same time, China Telecom and China Unicom actively started carrying out the low-frequency policy and increased cooperation efforts. This also presented a challenge to China Mobile's leading position in the market. To address these challenges, Huawei and China Mobile closely cooperated to reuse traffic surveillance poles, street light poles, public security surveillance poles, and transmission poles to quickly deploy sites. In 2016, China Mobile deployed more than 30,000 sites of various types in the whole country, effectively ensuring user experience improvement and maintaining the industry-leading competitive advantage in the country.

Pole Sites Comprise a Consolidated Intermediate Layer of Wireless Networks

Huawei provides scenario-specific solutions with new site models. Various pole sites flexibly adapt to different application scenarios, and facilitate a quick increase in the site density, improving network coverage and user experience. These new site models comprise a consolidated intermediate layer of wireless networks. 

Huawei is ready to impress customers with powerful and innovative solutions at the upcoming MWC 2017. Welcome to the Unleashing Site Potential booth at MWC 2017!