Customer Case Study

Mobile Operators Unified RAN Backhaul Increases Capacity Tenfold

Vodafone Portugal proves the efficiency and profitability of migration from TDM to IP with Cisco Unified RAN Backhaul. Challenge
Vodafone Portugal has been a leading example of transformation in the mobile network for years, demonstrating a keen insight and proactive preparation for what the world now acknowledges as a global mobile Internet revolution. Among its many achievements, Vodafone Portugal is also now the worlds largest IP packet-based Radio Access Network (RAN). Long before the growth of traffic from the popular Apple iPhone, Vodafone Portugal began preparing for an expected avalanche of mobile data traffic. In early 2006, the company took bold steps to begin the transformation of their RAN to reduce the recurring costs of leasing E1 lines that utilize time-division multiplexing (TDM) circuts to backhaul their traffic from cell sites to the base station controller (BSC) and radio network controller (RNC) in their mobile core. At that time, nearly half of the RAN backhaul was based on leased lines, which represented a huge expense. In addition to working with their traditional radio vendors in ongoing technology readiness assessments, trials, and production deployments, Vodafone made the unorthodox decision to test the Cisco RAN Optimization solution. The solution was a great success, doubling the backhaul capacity by using only two E1 lines to backhaul four E1 circuits per cell site, Figure 1.
Figure 1. Cisco RAN Optimization Solution Doubled Backhaul Capacity: Two E1 lines Backhaul Four E1 Circuits Per Cell Site

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
VODAFONE PORTUGAL Mobile operator with 5.7 million customers Owned by the Vodafone Group, one of the worlds leading telecommunications companies CHALLENGE Scale capacity to meet 100 percent year-overyear increase in traffic volumes Reduce operating costs for 2G and 3G+ services Provide infrastructure with investment protection and transition to LTE SOLUTION Cisco Unified RAN Backhaul RESULTS Return on investment within 12 months Ten-fold increase in user data throughput Operational readiness for LTE enhancements

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Proof in hand, Vodafone Portugal added Cisco to the list of trusted mobile network advisors for their mobile transformation and began a full-scale production deployment of Ciscos RAN Optimization solution in September 2006.

Solution
Vodafone Portugal was aware that its users would contine to drive exponential demand in mobile data traffic, especially as mobile broadband and high-speed downline packet access (HSDPA), an enhanced 3G telephony protocol, began growing significantly in Portugals urban areas in 2007. The company, therefore, continued to emphasize bold initiatives to increase capacity while controlling operating costs. The advent and popularity of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) HSDPA and the popular DLS access in Portugals cities allowed Cisco to offer Vodafone a HSDPA offload solution. The solution uses the same Cisco UnifiedRAN Backhaul network framework and the same two leased E1 lines for backhaul, adding DSL backhaul, for a net optimization of seven E1 circuits and DSL backhaul using two E1 lines, Figure 2.
Figure 2. Cisco Unified RAN Backhaul Solution: Two E1 lines Backhaul Seven E1 Circuits and HSDPA over ADSL Per Cell Site

This solution made Vodafone Portugal the first and largest live, end-to-end IP-based mobile backhaul network in the industry. The company is further evolving its Cisco Unified RAN backhaul infrastructure solution to replace traditional leased lines with a Carrier Ethernet and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network.

The Cisco Unified RAN backhaul solution provides us with the optimal way to meet our current needs as well as our future goals to deliver even better value to our customers.
Jorge Fernandes, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Portugal

Cisco was selected as the technology provider following extensive network trials with Vodafone Portugal that demonstrated Ciscos ability to deliver a highly reliable IP RAN transport infrastructure to meet the ever-increasing demands of mobile Internet services. Ciscos Unified RAN Backhaul solution supports multiple mobile and radio subsystems from multiple third-party vendors, which was a key requirement for Vodafone Portugal. The solution is based on Cisco MWR 2941 Series Mobile Wireless Routers and Cisco 7600 Series Intelligent Services Edge Routers with Circuit Emulation over Packet (CEoP) shared port adapter modules, Figure 3.

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Figure 3. Cisco Unified RAN Backhaul with Carrier Ethernet Architecture

Part of being an early innovator in migrating from traditional TDM networks to end-to-end IP involved some challenges for Vodafone Portugal. According to Jorge Fernandes, Vodafone Portugals CTO, Although the migration to Ethernet allows us to achieve considerable cost savings, it also poses the challenge of ensuring synchronization to our base station sites. Our cellular networks require accurate synchronization signals to minimize interference among sites and to ensure optimal inter-cell handover performance. The flexibility and robustness of the Cisco Unified RAN Backhaul solution, including synchronization, have proved strategically important for us as it can be used with any type of mobile traffic and is capable of supporting future 3G IP and 4G / LTE base stations as well. To help ensure optimal cost savings and further reduce dependency, Vodafone Portugal put in a requirement that the new fiber-to-cell extensions must not rely on E1 or TDM access at the cell site. Another requirement was for clocking and synchronization to work without a Global Positioning System (GPS), because GPS would not be available for all sites. To meet these requirements, Ciscos Unified RAN Backhaul solution provides a means for timing over IP with an IEEE 1588-based solution. Ciscos MWR 2941 as a slave together with Brilliants C-2000, a carrier-class PRS/IEEE 1588v2 Grand Master from Brilliant Telecommunications, was validated by Vodafones research and development department to meet all clocking and synchronization requirements, thus removing the only remaining technological reliance on TDM in the RAN. The Cisco Unified RAN Backhaul Solution features include:

Any radio, any media, many generations (e.g., 2G, 3G, 3G+, LTE) Radio neutral proven interoperability with all major radio vendors All IP advanced timing feature support (Sync-E and IEEE 1588) Optimal backhaul options (e.g., 2G and 3G optimization over TDM, HSDPA offload) High availability and redundancy all the way to the cell site Optional XaaS (everything as a service) wholesale service offering potential End-to-end quality of service (QoS) and service-level agreement (SLA) assurance that allows reliable thirdparty transmission options

First to reach IP MPLS Forum certification, Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) certification, and backhaul compliance

References since December 2005

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Results
Vodafone Portugals advanced fiber-to-the-cell network will eliminate recurring leased line costs. It will also position Vodafone Portugal as a potential wholesale network service provider, enabling the company to lease capacity and leverage their network to offer other services, such as increasingly popular managed unified communications for businesses.

Vodafone Portugals focus on delivering a superior customer experience has put it at the forefront of the industry Through our close collaboration with the Vodafone Portugal team during the network trails, Cisco was able to demonstrate how our IP NGN Carrier Ethernet design and Unified RAN Backhaul solutions can offer a cost-effective and seamless migration path to Ethernet backhaul networks, while capitalizing on the cost efficiencies of IP/Ethernet transport as bandwidth demands increase.
Kelly Ahuja, senior vice president, Service Provider Routing Technology Group, Cisco

Vodafone Portugals investment strategy is proving to be profitable.

PRODUCT LIST
Routing and Switching Cisco MWR 1941 and 2941 Data Center Mobile Wireless Edge Routers Cisco ME 3400 Series Ethernet Access Switches Cisco 7609 Router Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform Network Management Cisco Active Network Abstraction (ANA)

According to Vodafones 2008 annual report, The growth in adjusted operating profit of subsidiaries was primarily driven by increases in Portugal and the Netherlands of 20.2% and 13.2%, respectively, at constant exchange rates, resulting from the growth in service revenue, as well as good cost control in Portugal. [The company saw] particularly strong growth in messaging and data revenue in the Netherlands and Portugal where new tariffs and Vodafone Mobile Connect data card initiatives proved particularly successful. And in Vodafones 2009 annual report, the growth has continued: The growth in EBITDA [Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and

Amortization] was primarily driven by increases in Portugal and the Netherlands of 12.3% and 7.9%, respectively, at constant exchange rates, resulting from the growth in service revenue, as well as good cost control in Portugal.

For More Information

Cisco Mobile Internet Solutions http://www.cisco.com/go/mobile Cisco Service Provider Solutions http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns341/networking_solutions_service_provider_home.html Vodafone Portugal http://www.vodafone.pt Vodafone Portugal 2009 Annual Report http://via.vodafone.com/etc/medialib/agm_09.Par.22820.File.dat/VF_Annual Report_2009.pdf

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Printed in USA

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04/10

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