Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

STAGGERED BCCH

P REPARED BY APPROVED BY
FUNCTION RADIO SUPPORT ENGINEER HEAD OF RADIO SUPPORT
NAME LYN WARD JEAN HAKIM
DATE 22-05-2007 05-06-2007

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 1 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Contents:
Contents: ___________________________________________________________________________ 2
Abstract:____________________________________________________________________________ 3
Introduction:_________________________________________________________________________ 3
Tools: ______________________________________________________________________________ 3
Post processing data tool: _____________________________________________________________ 3
Planning tools: _____________________________________________________________________ 3
Drive testing tools: __________________________________________________________________ 3
Map Viewer Tools:__________________________________________________________________ 3
Technical Preface: ____________________________________________________________________ 4
Continuous BCCH:__________________________________________________________________ 4
Staggered BCCH: ___________________________________________________________________ 4
Staggered versus Contiguous BCCH: ____________________________________________________ 5
Study Case:__________________________________________________________________________ 6
Comparison between before and after the implementation: ____________________________________ 8
KUDSAYA_MA3HAD_3: _________________________________________________________ 12
KUDSAYA WARD_1:____________________________________________________________ 14
DUMMAR BALAD_3: ___________________________________________________________ 16
About staggered BCCH Now: ______________________________________________________ 20
Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________ 22

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 2 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
 Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Abstract:
The purpose of this document is to summarize the study of using the Fractional Load Planning
(FLP) 1/1 with Staggered BCCH method and monitoring network performance during test period.
This method has been implemented in Dummar and Kudsaya areas starting from July 28, 2005 till
now. The test started with 10 sites, later on, 10 other sites were added to our testing area.
Included in this document, an introduction about Staggered BCCH Method, comparison with
continuous BCCH, and analysis for the study case in three stages: before applying the Staggered
BCCH, after implementing the Staggered, and now days.

Introduction:
The 900 MHz sub-band available for Syriatel is very tight (3-35); hence we need to find the
optimum reuse pattern in order to use our spectrum effectively.
In this study, we will test TCH interference on BCCH channel and vice versa.
We chose this method in order to get the benefits of the staggered way; like making BCCH
frequency plan easier (it’s a big problem for radio engineers to find a good BCCH frequency for new
cells with this growing number of new sites) and increasing the maximum number of TRXs for a site,
knowing that this method will affect the network quality in some areas. The main idea was sharing
the interference between the BCCH carriers and the TCH carriers, and averaging this interference
over the whole frequency band.

Tools:
Post processing data tool:
Smart cell Counters and Data Processing
CellDT Parameter Data Base

Planning tools:
TEMS CellPlanner

Drive testing tools:

TEMS Investigation tool

Map Viewer Tools:

MapInfo Professional

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 3 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
 Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Technical Preface:
Continuous BCCH:
Continuous BCCH means that frequencies used for BCCH are taken from a continuous band.
Example:

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

BCCH G TCH

Available frequency spectrum: ARFCN = 3 to 35 (33 frequencies)

BCCH: 3 – 19 and 35 (18 frequencies)
Guard: 20 (one guard frequency)
TCH: 21 – 34 (14 Frequencies)

This is the regular way we use in our entire network.

Staggered BCCH:
Staggered BCCH means that the BCCH frequencies are taken from a staggered band, leaving
one ARFCN for TCH between two frequencies used for BCCH.
Example:

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

BCCH TCH

Available frequency spectrum: ARFCN = 3 to 35 (33 frequencies)

BCCH: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31 (15 frequencies)
TCH: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32 – 35 (18 frequencies)

And this is the subject of our project.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 4 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Staggered versus Contiguous BCCH:

 The Staggered BCCH is easier to plan compared to the contiguous BCCH. This is because
adjacent channel interference between BCCH carriers is no longer needs to be taken into
consideration.

 In Staggered BCCH method, staggered TCHs are fit in between BCCH frequencies. This
makes the planning of these TCHs more difficult compared to having them in a contiguous
band. The reason for this is that adjacent BCCH - TCH interference is now needs to be taken
into consideration.

 The Staggered method allows using less number of BCCH frequencies, which leaves more
frequencies to be used as TCHs.

 The staggered way gives the possibility of using all MAIOs from 0 to 15; which can increase
the maximum TRX configuration for a site from ( 4 / 4 / 3 ) in case of using the contiguous
TCH, to ( 7 / 6 / 6 ) in the staggered TCHs.

 Using the staggered method can effect TCH quality where the signal strength is weak, e.g. at
the cell border, this is because of the BCCH to TCH interference.

Which method that is better is a very complicated question; there are advantages and
disadvantages for both methods. If you think that adjacent BCCH-BCCH is much more critical
compared to adjacent BCCH - TCH, staggered should be preferred. It will however make it more
difficult to plan the TCHs.

Below are some things that should also be taken in consideration when choosing between
staggered versus contiguous BCCH:

● when using a staggered BCCH, the BCCH carriers, always using full power, will interfere with
adjacent TCHs.

● The BCCH and the TCH layers are more independent from each other with a contiguous BCCH.
With a staggered BCCH, it is difficult to do modifications in one layer, without affecting the
entire frequency plan in that area.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 5 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
 Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Study Case:
We chose Dummar and Kudsaya as a testing area because of its isolation from other Damascus
sites; applying staggered BCCH method on its sites won’t have a big affect on the other sites.

It should be noted that using staggered BCCHs on group of sites can make some interference and
bad quality problems at the bordering area between staggered sites and sites using continuous
BCCH, where Some TCH frequencies are used as BCCH and vice versa.
These problems can be solved either by tuning the frequency plan or by applying a staggered plan
over the whole area.

Sites included in this test are:

 HAMEH: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/4/3
 KUDSAYA_MA3HAD: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/3/3
 KUDSAYA: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/4/3
 DAHIET_KODSAYA: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/3/4
 KUDSAYA_WARD: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/3
 DUMMARBALAD: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/4/4
 DUMMARWT: 1 Cell , TRXs: 4
 DUMMAR: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/2/3
 DUMMARWEST: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/4
 RICE: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/2/3

28 Cell are included in our test with total

number of TRXs: 93 TRXs

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 6 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
 Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Frequency plan method applied is:

Available frequencies for BCCH: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31 (15 frequencies)
Available frequencies for TCH: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32 – 35 (18 frequencies)

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

BCCH TCH

Appendix A shows the old and new frequency plan details for each site.

We started our test on July 28, 2005 over a 28 cells, and still on till now.
During this period, 10 additional sites and were added to this area using the staggered method and
the total Traffic increased from the average of 500 Erlang_P to the average of 800 Erlang_P.
Regarding this expansion, three stages will be on spot,
1. Before applying Staggered BCCH (10 Sites, 28 Cells and 93 TRXs using Continuous BCCH).
2. After applying Staggered BCCH (10 Sites, 28 Cells and 93 TRXs using Staggered BCCH).
3. After staggered 20 Sites (20 Sites, 53 Cells and 190 TRXs using Staggered BCCH).

Figure below shows sites configuration now and on implementation date

Ju l y 2 005 M a y 2 007

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 7 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Comparison between before and after the implementation:

As mentioned before the staggered way make it easier to plan BCCH with less number of
needed frequencies this is because there’s no need to take adjacent channel interference in
consideration.
The following tables and figures show interference statistics (C/I, C/A) before and after
implementing the staggered BCCH.

C/A

Adjacent Interference Before Staggered

Total Interfered Area (km²): 33.72
Poor Quality Area [< 9 dB] (km²): 5.71
Poor Quality Area [< 9 dB] (%): 16.92

Total Interfered Poor Quality Poor Quality

Category
Area (km²) Area (km²) Area (%)
high residential 3.48 0.18 5.16
low residential 1.32 0.32 24.19
industrial area 0.34 0.1 29.97
Semi open area 1.71 0.42 24.54
open area 25.08 4.24 16.92
low plantation 1.66 0.43 26.05

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 8 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

C/I

Co-Channel Interference Before Staggered

Total Interfered Area (km²): 33.72
Poor Quality Area [< 12 dB] (km²): 4.70
Poor Quality Area [< 12 dB] (%): 13.93

Total Interfered Poor Quality Poor Quality

Category
Area (km²) Area (km²) Area (%)
high residential 3.48 0.01 0.25
low residential 1.32 0.27 20.14
industrial area 0.34 0.1 29.54
semi open area 1.71 0.33 19.00
open area 25.08 3.52 14.03
high plantation 0.13 0 3.73
low plantation 1.66 0.47 28.48

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 9 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

C/I

Co-Channel Interference After Staggered

Total Interfered Area (km²): 33.72
Poor Quality Area [< 12 dB] (km²): 0.29
Poor Quality Area [< 12 dB] (%): 0.85

Total Interfered Poor Quality Poor Quality

Category
Area (km²) Area (km²) Area (%)
high residential 3.48 0.00 0.00
low residential 1.32 0.00 0.00
industrial area 0.34 0.00 0.00
semi open area 1.71 0.00 0.24
open area 25.08 0.28 1.12
high plantation 0.13 0.00 0.10
low plantation 1.66 0.00 0.04

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 10 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

In order to give an indication about network performance, eight KPIs are used in this comparison;
these KPIs are:

 Erlang_P: Total traffic during cell pick hour.

 DCR_P: This indicator provides the number of terminated calls and the call drop rate from the
view of the MS (customer satisfaction).
 SD_Drop_P: This indicator will give you the number of dropped SDCCH Connections, which
can occur for any call type (MOC, MTC, Locupd, SMS ...).
 S_ImmAss_R_P: This indicator will give you the immediate assignment success rate from MS
point of view. An Immediate Assignment procedure is successful if the
BTS returns an establishment indication message.
 TCH_Drop: This indicator will give you the number of dropped TCH connections related to
Mobile Stations. Only drops related to the BSS including the radio interface are
considered.
 ULQ_R_P: This indicator will give you the Uplink Quality handover rate.
 DLQ_R_P: This indicator will give you the Downlink Quality handover rate.
 BC_R_P: This indicator will give you the Better Cell handover rate.

Appendix B gives definitions and Formulas for these KPIs.

After implementing the staggered method many change were noticed, some of these changes
were to the best and other were to worse.

In order to give a sight about the effect of the staggered BCCH, Three different cells with different
performance were chosen as examples.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 11 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

KUDSAYA_MA3HAD_3:

Kudsaya ma3had_3 covers a dense area with lots buildings; Details are shown below:

KUDSAYA_MA3HAD_3
ANTENNA TYPE K739630

ANTENNA REFERENCE H65V7T0

AZIMUTH 285

TILT 0

HEIGHT 21

NUMBER OF TRXs 3

Serving area is shown in yellow below:

Average of traffic for this cell was 10.4 Erlang during one month before applying staggered
BCCH, and increased to 11.4 Erlang during the month after applying the staggered; this could be
an ordinary increase and has no relation to our test.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 12 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
 Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Charts below show some of KPIs values before and after the implementation:

DCR_P% Erlang_P S_ImmAss_R_P SD_Drop_P

9.E-03 16 1.1 16
8.E-03 15 14
7.E-03 14 1.05 12
6.E-03 13 1 10
5.E-03
12 8
4.E-03 0.95
3.E-03 11 6
s 10 4
2.E-03 0.9
1.E-03 9 2
0.E+00 8 0.85 0
5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5
5

8/ 5

8/ 5

5
05

7/ 5

05

8/ 5
5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

8/ 5

8/ 5

5
05

7/ 5

05

8/ 5

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

0
0

2/

6/

1/

7/
2/

6/

1/

7/

29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28
29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28

7/

7/

8/

8/
7/

7/

8/

8/

6/
6/

TCH_Drop ULQ_R_P DLQ_R_P BC_R_P

12 100%
10 80%
8
60%
6
40%
4
2 20%

0 0%
5
05

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5
5
05

8/ 5

8/ 5

8/ 5

5
5

7/ 5
5

7/ 5
5

8/ 5
5

5
05

05

05

05

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

0
2/

6/

1/

7/
2/

6/

1/

7/

29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28
29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28

7/

7/

8/

8/
7/

7/

8/

8/

6/
6/

7/

7/

7/

8/

8/

The monthly average of these KPIs is shown in the table below:

KPI Before After Trend

Erlang 10.4 11.4 
Drop Calls 0.28% 0.24% 
Successful Immediate Assignment Rate 100.70% 100.30% 
SD Drop 2.84 2.1 
TCH Drop 4.08 3.38 
Better Cell Handover 53% 53% Same
DL Quality HO Rate 23% 27% 
UL Quality HO Rate 11% 8% 

Here we can notice that this cell performance was already good and still good after applying the
staggered method and this could be because of the small coverage area (geographically
blockaded) and because this cell has no high level interferers in its serving area.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 13 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

KUDSAYA WARD_1:

Kudsaya ward_1 is a sector placed on top of a mountain covers a large area includes open and
dense areas; Details are shown below:

KUDSAYA_WARD_1
ANTENNA TYPE K739635

ANTENNA REFERENCE H65V8.5T6

AZIMUTH 15

MECHANICAL TILT 0

HEIGHT 22

NUMBER OF TRXs 3

Its serving area is shown in yellow below:

Average of traffic for this cell before and after applying the staggered BCCH was 17 Erlang,

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 14 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Charts below shows some of KPIs values before and after the implementation:
DCR_P% Erlang_P S_ImmAss_R_P SD_Drop_P
1.60E-02 30 1.05 20
1.40E-02 25 1
1.20E-02 15
1.00E-02 20 0.95
8.00E-03 15 0.9 10
6.00E-03 s 10 0.85
4.00E-03 5
2.00E-03 5 0.8
0.00E+00 0 0.75 0
7/ 5

7/ 5
7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 05

7/ 5
7/ 05

8/ 5

8/ 5
8/ 5

8/ 5
8/ 05

7/ 5
7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5
5
05

8/ 5

8/ 05

8/ 5

5
/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
0

0
/

/
2/

6/

1/
7/

2/

6/

1/

7/
29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28

29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28
7/

8/

8/
6/

6/

TCH_Drop ULQ_R_P DLQ_R_P BC_R_P

70 100%
60
80%
50
40 60%
30 40%
20
20%
10
0 0%
5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5
5

8/ 5

8/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

8/ 5

8/ 5

5
05

7/ 5

05

8/ 5

05

7/ 5

05

8/ 5
/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
0

0
2/

6/

1/

7/

2/

6/

1/

7/
29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28

29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28
7/

7/

8/

8/

7/

7/

8/

8/
6/

6/

The monthly average of these KPIs is shown in table below:

KPI Before After Trend

Erlang 17 17 Same
Drop Calls 0.72% 0.44% 
Successful Immediate Assignment Rate 98% 100% 
SD Drop 7.24 2.95 
TCH Drop 23.16 9.33 
Better Cell Handover 51% 49% 
DL Quality HO Rate 25% 24% 
UL Quality HO Rate 16% 20% 

Here we can notice that this cell performance had a remarkable improvement in drop call rate,
TCH Drop and SD Drop with little DL quality decrement.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 15 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

This could be because the BCCH frequency in this area was affected by too many co-channel and
adj-channel interference and using the staggered decreased this interference as it’s clear in C/A
and C/I Charts.
These two cell were examples on cells had a good behavior after implementing staggered BCCH,
following are examples on cells suffered from a bad behavior.

DUMMAR BALAD_3:

Dummar Balad_3 covers a large and dense area; Details are shown below:

DUMMAR_BALAD_3
ANTENNA TYPE K739623

ANTENNA REFERENCE H65V9.5T0

AZIMUTH 305

MECHANICAL TILT 3

HEIGHT 19

NUMBER OF TRXs 4

Its serving area is shown in yellow below:

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 16 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Average of traffic for this cell was 37 Erlang during one month before applying the staggered
BCCH, and increased to 39 Erlang during the month after applying the staggered; this could be an
ordinary increase and has no relation to our test.
Charts below shows some of KPIs values before and after the implementation:

DCR_P% Erlang_P S_ImmAss_R_P SD_Drop_P

5.E-03 45 1.1 16
40 14
4.E-03 35 1.05
12
30 10
3.E-03 25 1
8
2.E-03 20 0.95
s 15 6
1.E-03 10 4
0.9
5 2
0.E+00 0 0.85 0
5
05

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 05

7/ 5

7/ 5

8/ 5
05

8/ 5

8/ 05

8/ 5
5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5
5

8/ 5

8/ 5
5
05

7/ 5

05

8/ 5
/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
0

0
/

/
2/

6/

1/

7/

2/

6/

1/

7/
29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28

29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28
7/

7/

8/

7/

7/

8/

8/
6/

6/

TCH_Drop ULQ_R_P DLQ_R_P BC_R_P

25 100%

20 80%

15 60%

10 40%

5 20%

0 0%
5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

8/ 5

8/ 5
5
05

7/ 5

05

8/ 5
5
05

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5

7/ 5
5
05

8/ 5

8/ 5

8/ 5

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

0
0

2/

6/

1/

7/
2/

6/

1/

7/

29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28
29

10

14

18

24

29

18

24

28

7/

7/

8/

8/
7/

7/

8/

8/

6/
6/

The monthly average of these KPIs is shown in table below:

KPI Before After Trend

Erlang 37 39 
Drop Calls 0.18% 0.31% 
Successful Immediate Assignment Rate 102.9% 101.70% 
SD Drop 5.12 6.52 
TCH Drop 9.68 13.57 
Better Cell Handover 56% 34% 
DL Quality HO Rate 7% 16% 
UL Quality HO Rate 14% 18% 

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 17 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Here we can notice that this cell performance was badly affected by the staggered BCCH, this
could be because the BCCH to TCH interference whish has a stronger effect in case traffic
increment.
As we can notice, in case of using staggered BCCH, interference can be generated from the cell
itself (TCH to BCCH), and not necessary an external interference.

The table below shows the changes of KPIs average (a month before and after the staggered
BCCH) for all cells included in the test and ordered from better to worse.

The (+) means that the KPI value has increased and the (–) means a decrement.

Also the Blue color indicates that cell was badly affected and the yellow color indicates a good change.

Appendix C shows all KPI values, averages and values of differences before and after July 28th.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 18 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Note that it appear from Erlang_P column that Total traffic for this area has decreased in the
month after July28, this is because 2 new site got on air in this period, Masaken_Alharas in
July,31 and Emigrants in August 2nd.

The chart below shows the total traffic for this area with and without Masaken_Alharas and
Emigrants
SumOfE rlang_P SumOfE rlang_P

560

540

520

500

480

460

440

420

400
05 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 0 5 0 5 0 5 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05
2 9/ /1/ /3/ /5/ /7/ /9/ 11/ 13/ 15/ 17/ 19/ 21/ 23/ 25/ 27/ 29/ 31/ /2/ /4/ /6/ /8/ 10/ 12/ 14/ 16/ 18/ 20/ 22/ 24/ 26/ 28/
6/ 7 7 7 7 7 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 7/ 8 8 8 8 8/ 8/ 8/ 8/ 8/ 8/ 8/ 8/ 8/ 8/

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 19 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

About staggered BCCH Now:

20 sites now are on air using the staggered way with 53 cells with 190 TRXs and total traffic 800
Erlang_P,
These sites are:

 ABO_BASALEH: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/3/3

 DAHEYETALBOHOUTH: 2 Cells , TRXs: 4/2
 DAHIET_KODSAYA: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/4
 DUMMAR: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/4/3
 DUMMARBALAD: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/4/4
 DUMMAREAST: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/4/4
 DUMMARWEST: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/4
 DUMMARWT: 1 Cell , TRXs: 4
 EMIGRANTS: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/2/2
 HAMEH: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/3/4
 JEMRAYA: 2 Cells , TRXs: 3/3
 KUDSAYA: 3 Cells , TRXs: 7/3/4 (Common BCCH)
 KUDSAYA_GYM: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/4
 KUDSAYA_MA3HAD: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/4/4
 KUDSAYA_WARD: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/4
 MASAKEN_ALHARAS: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/4
 NEWDUMMAR: 3 Cells , TRXs: 4/3/3
 OLD_CEMENT: 3 Cells , TRXs: 2/3/2
 RICE: 3 Cells , TRXs: 3/4/4
 SA7ARA: 4 Cells , TRXs: 2/2/3/4

Table below shows values of the

average of a month for DROP_CALL_RATE,
SUCCESSFUL_IMMEDIATE_ASSIGNMENTS and BETTER_CELL_RATE for these 20 sites.
Marked rows have values under the KPI Standard threshold values.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 20 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

Cell name DCR_P% Cell name S_ImmAss_R_P Cell name BC_R_P

DaheyetAlBohouth_2 1.59% Emigrants_2 79.78% Emigrants_3 12.35%
DaheyetAlBohouth_1 0.99% DaheyetAlBohouth_1 88.32% Kudsaya_1 15.83%
Emigrants_2 0.88% Jemraya_1 89.41% Jemraya_2 18.57%
DummarBalad_1 0.81% Sa7ara_2 92.27% Kudsaya_Gym_3 19.01%
Jemraya_1 0.76% DaheyetAlBohouth_2 92.45% Kudsaya_Ma3had_3 26.69%
Sa7ara_2 0.76% Masaken_Alharas_2 93.29% DaheyetAlBohouth_1 28.89%
Masaken_Alharas_3 0.71% Abo_Basaleh_2 93.33% Kudsaya_Gym_1 29.43%
Masaken_Alharas_1 0.65% Kudsaya_2 93.48% Jemraya_1 32.18%
Abo_Basaleh_2 0.61% Sa7ara_4 94.52% Dahiet_Kodsaya_2 33.92%
Sa7ara_4 0.59% Masaken_Alharas_1 94.73% Sa7ara_4 34.66%
Dahiet_Kodsaya_1 0.59% Kudsaya_Ma3had_3 94.76% Masaken_Alharas_1 35.80%
Kudsaya_2 0.58% Sa7ara_1 94.83% Kudsaya_Ma3had_1 36.81%
Kudsaya_Ma3had_3 0.52% DummarWest_2 95.11% Hameh_1 38.40%
Abo_Basaleh_1 0.50% Hameh_1 95.11% Kudsaya_Ma3had_2 38.92%
DummarWest_2 0.48% Kudsaya_Ward_3 95.64% Hameh_3 42.22%
Kudsaya_Ward_3 0.45% Dahiet_Kodsaya_3 95.66% Kudsaya_Ward_1 42.43%
Kudsaya_Ward_2 0.44% Old_Cement_1 95.72% Abo_Basaleh_2 42.76%
Kudsaya_Ma3had_2 0.42% Kudsaya_3 95.75% Kudsaya_Gym_2 42.79%
Herneh_3 0.41% DummarEast_1 95.77% Sa7ara_2 44.97%
Kudsaya_3 0.37% Kudsaya_Ma3had_2 96.02% Kudsaya_Ward_3 45.68%
Kudsaya_Gym_3 0.37% Kudsaya_Ward_1 96.13% Kudsaya_2 47.57%
Sa7ara_3 0.37% Kudsaya_Gym_3 96.23% Kudsaya_3 48.70%
DummarWT_1 0.37% Rice_2 96.44% Dahiet_Kodsaya_3 48.82%
Herneh_2 0.37% Kudsaya_Ward_2 96.50% Dahiet_Kodsaya_1 49.89%
Hameh_3 0.36% DummarEast_3 96.97% DummarWT_1 50.39%
Hameh_1 0.35% Kudsaya_Gym_1 97.09% Masaken_Alharas_3 52.78%
Kudsaya_Ward_1 0.35% Herneh_1 97.09% Hameh_2 53.16%
DummarBalad_3 0.33% Sa7ara_3 97.13% Herneh_1 54.72%
Old_Cement_1 0.32% Kudsaya_1 97.19% Sa7ara_3 55.33%
Sa7ara_1 0.32% DummarWT_1 97.46% DaheyetAlBohouth_2 55.52%
Old_Cement_3 0.31% Hameh_2 97.49% DummarWest_1 56.12%
Dahiet_Kodsaya_3 0.31% Rice_3 97.62% Sa7ara_1 57.11%
Rice_2 0.30% Dahiet_Kodsaya_1 97.83% DummarBalad_3 57.74%
Kudsaya_Ma3had_1 0.29% DummarBalad_1 97.91% Herneh_2 57.99%
Rice_3 0.29% Masaken_Alharas_3 98.20% Old_Cement_3 58.46%
DummarBalad_2 0.28% Old_Cement_2 98.20% DummarEast_1 61.33%
Hameh_2 0.28% DummarBalad_3 98.33% DummarBalad_2 66.70%
DummarWest_3 0.26% Dummar_2 98.41% DummarEast_3 68.57%
DummarWest_1 0.25% Kudsaya_Gym_2 98.44% Rice_3 68.68%
Dahiet_Kodsaya_2 0.24% Rice_1 98.57% Emigrants_2 68.76%
DummarEast_1 0.23% Jemraya_2 98.83% Rice_2 69.85%
NewDummar_2 0.23% Herneh_3 98.95% Old_Cement_1 69.86%
Masaken_Alharas_2 0.23% Herneh_2 99.03% Masaken_Alharas_2 69.87%
Herneh_1 0.23% Kudsaya_Ma3had_1 99.11% DummarWest_3 70.32%
Dummar_1 0.23% Old_Cement_3 99.30% Dummar_2 70.50%
Kudsaya_1 0.20% NewDummar_3 99.39% Kudsaya_Ward_2 70.76%
NewDummar_3 0.19% DummarWest_1 99.43% Abo_Basaleh_1 71.16%
Dummar_3 0.19% DummarEast_2 99.59% Dummar_3 71.99%
Dummar_2 0.19% Dahiet_Kodsaya_2 99.71% DummarWest_2 73.55%
Emigrants_3 0.19% NewDummar_2 99.82% Rice_1 74.07%
Jemraya_2 0.18% Hameh_3 99.91% Old_Cement_2 74.07%
Kudsaya_Gym_1 0.18% DummarWest_3 100.05% Emigrants_1 75.20%
NewDummar_1 0.17% Emigrants_3 100.19% DummarBalad_1 76.01%
Emigrants_1 0.17% NewDummar_1 100.65% Herneh_3 76.26%
DummarEast_2 0.17% Dummar_1 100.68% Dummar_1 76.76%
Old_Cement_2 0.17% Abo_Basaleh_1 100.87% NewDummar_1 78.49%
Rice_1 0.14% DummarBalad_2 100.89% DummarEast_2 81.57%
DummarEast_3 0.13% Emigrants_1 101.74% NewDummar_2 82.00%
Kudsaya_Gym_2 0.09% Dummar_3 103.31% NewDummar_3 82.65%

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 21 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900
 Date: 05-06-2007 Document Type: Report Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Version: 1.0

Subject: Staggered BCCH Open

From here we can see that general performance in this test area is still considered as Good and
above KPIs standard threshold after applying the staggered BCCH.

Conclusion:
From the previous analysis, we can notice that after using the staggered BCCH method,
some cells had better performance and others had worse.

For TCHs, we can notice that TCH quality become worse in most of cells, especially in cells
with high traffic values and large coverage area.
Though the number of drops has been decreased and KPIs values are still above the standard
threshold in all cells, some of them can’t be consider as cells with good behavior.

For BCCH, we can notice that its behavior wasn’t affected too much by TCH frequencies;
this could be because of the use of frequency hopping and power control.

In general look, we can notice the retreat of quality for TCHs; this will be the cost of gaining
the staggered way benefits which are the easier frequency Plan and the greater cell capacity.

Ref: Syriatel/TD/RS/07/003/LW Page 22 of 22

Syriatel, Abu Remaneh, Al Jalaa Str., Doctors’s Syndicate Bldg. P.O.Box, Damascus, Syria . Tel :+963-11-333-80 93 Fax : +963-11-33 14 900