Next Generation RAN

Management

The journey from a network-centric to a holistic network

optimization putting your customer at the heart of your network
 Agenda
• Welcome & Introduction
• Actix at a glance and vision for the mobile telecommunication industry
• ActixOne – platform for the “traditional” optimization
– Optimization solutions based on Drive Test, Benchmarking and OSS and the
power of correlating these data
– Understanding how to leverage your network data to roll-out Small- and Macro-cells
to satisfy customer demand
• Live Demo

• Customer Experience Analytics

– Establishing customer experience as integral part of your RAN Management
– Discovering what the network tells you about your customers: people,
behaviours, locations and handsets
– Examining the customer experience improvements
• bridging the gap between the core network and business
• Live Demo
• Questions & Answers
Rüdiger Henn Ricardo Fuentes
Director Sales Europe Sales Engineer Europe
T +49 172 2623672 T +49 172 7655456
E ruediger.henn@actix.com E ricardo.fuentes@actix.com
 About Actix
Actix has been developing Telecommunication Technology for more than 20 years
More than 400 Operator’s are Actix customers, 25 of the top 30 operators globally
FY12 ended Jan 31st 2012, Revenue: €43m (up 29%), Profit: 8% (up 30%)
270 employees, including dedicated research team
75% Revenue from MNO’s, 25% from NEPS (E///, Huawei, NSN, NEC)
Key partnership evolving rapidly @ Huawei

25 of the
top 30
We are proud to serve 25 of the top
30 mobile operators worldwide.
 Actix know-how

Standardization Publications
• Member of NGMN
• scientific papers: 20+
• Trusted partner for operator
alliances • patents: 15+
• white papers: 10+

Research
• EASY-C: LTE Advanced & cooperative MIMO
• Cool Cellular: Energy-efficiency in RAN
• SON Coordination
 our focus
everything we do is about optimizing mobile network performance

• accelerating technology rollouts by optimizing cell

plans & pre-launch deployed networks

• increasing operational efficiency by automating

optimization processes with a single platform

• improving customer experience by rapidly optimizing

the network based on customer data
 Actix Product Suite
ActixOne is a scalable Actix Desktop products
platform providing a unified deliver offline analytics to
workspace for all network optimization experts
optimization activity
Analyzer
Expert drive test post-
processing for Network
Web Web Web Web Optimization &
Acceptance

RadioPlan
ActixOne Expert automated cell
planning using Network
OSS, Drive Survey and
Planning data

CellOpt
Expert automated
frequency planning using
Network OSS, Drive
Survey and Planning data
7
 our vision
enabling operators along the path to self-optimizing networks

Optimize

Analyze SON

Visualize analytics to recommend

solutions & what-if
tools
analytics to automate
problem detection &
root-cause diagnosis
analytics to improve
visibility & drive
increasing
decision-making automation
Actix Solutions for Mobile Network Life Cycle
Pre-Launch Live Network
New technology Manage network Technology
Planning
rollout performance upgrades and swaps

Customer
Network Network
Experience
Acceptance Optimization
Analytics
Reduce risk in network Optimize multi-vendor, Improve the customer
rollouts multi technology networks experience

On Places
Time

The
On On Network
Quality Budget Phones People

Self Organizing / Optimizing Networks

 ActixOne Platform
A unified workspace for optimizing the mobile network

• Supports multi-vendor,
multi-source network data

Visualize Analyze Optimize • Highly scalable platform

ActixOne Web Interface
• Web based interface
Workflow Dashboards Rules Optimizatio
Engine & Reports Engine n Engine • Automates tasks using
rules engines &
ActixOne Repository optimization algorithms

• Integrated workflow to
streamline activities
Network Subscriber Drive Planning Maps
OSS Trace Survey
 Next Generation RAN
Management

Instead of a lot of product slides how to move from a

fragmented tools and data environment with no
processes in the engineering departments I will tell
you a real customer story
 The “CTO Challenge“ to Actix

• April 2010:
– “My objective of this meeting is to find out if Actix
can realize the opportunity of Unassisted
Optimization “

“unassisted Optimization means SON for 2G, 3G and

4G”
 The Mission
Preparing the organization for a new technology, consolidation of tools, data and
processes and the transition to manage a unified network automatically:

• Increase Efficiency
– A multi-user platform that supports a Unified RAN Engineering Workspace
– Supporting process automation resulting in reduced spending
– Provide additional bandwidth for the engineering departments to handle new
technologies (LTE, small Cells, HetNet) by maintaining the same quality in 2G & 3G

• Increase the quality of the network & Manage customer experience in a

smarter network
– Adding customer-centricity to manage the network on demand
– Re-use of Best Practices across the organization

• Supporting multiple integrated solutions to solve critical issues at lower cost

– Network Rollout and Management
– Assisted-/ Unassisted Optimization
 Actix‘s approach

ActixOne
ActixOne Automated ActixOne
Optimization Optimization SON
Solution _______
ActixOne , ActixOne
Drive Test, Rules based Semi- Open-loop
PM, Call Network Automated
Trace, and Optimization Optimization
Automatic
Optimization

Step-by-step instead bing-bang

 Next Steps
• Embedding customer experience into the core of
the network departments:
– Corporate Customers:
• Sales Process
• SLA Management
• Complaint Management
• Tailored Optimization
– Further Automation:
• Capacity Management
• Semi-Automated Optimization
 Next Generation RAN
Management

ActixOne in “traditional” optimization

 ActixOne Enterprise
A unified workspace for optimizing the mobile network

• Supports multi-vendor,
multi-technology and multi-
source network data
Visualize Analyze Optimize
ActixOne Web Interface • Highly scalable platform

Workflow Dashboards Rules Optimization • Web based interface

Engine & Reports Engine Engine
• Automates work tasks
ActixOne Repository using rules engines &
optimization algorithms

• Integrated workflow to
Network
OSS
Planning Drive
Survey
Subscriber Maps
streamline activities
Trace

New data
source 17
ActixOne Survey Data Analysis

18
Drive Test measurements
• Drive Test data processing in ActixOne:
• Show binned data in the map
• Call Event Explorer: drilldown to L3
• Radio Network Analysis:
• Coverage: overshooting, crossfeeders
• Pollution
• Missing neighbors
• Network comparison:
• Different networks
• Same network, different technologies
• Same network, different time periods
• Reports
• Benefits:
• Centralization
• Correlation with PM, Call Trace, alerts...
• Drilldown to L3
• Survey Management and File Status modules allow access to individual files and their
processing status
• New KPIs can be created using Actix Analyzer queries
Network KPIs, Benchmark Analysis

Network KPIs can be visualized,

trended and reports on
Benchmark dashboard focuses
competitive quality

20
Additional Information from Data Correlations
• Using Drive Test, PM-, CM and Call Trace
data
• Handset analysis reporting and device
dimension in Customer Experience
• Real-time capabilities:
• Call Trace data is loaded and aggregated
with 1-min resolution
• Also PM KPIs can be used
• How fast we can load the data depends
on the hardware:
• Typical delay for Call Trace is 1-hour
• It is possible to link information to
sectors, e.g. Street View direct access
 Engineering Workspace for LTE
Diagnosis/Root Cause Analysis
LTE drill-down for root cause
analysis (with playback)

Google Earth 3-D visualization

Antenna pattern/tilt
of drive survey measurements
visualization & terrain profiling
& events 22
 Using Drive Tests for accepting new
technologies at high quality e.g. LTE G/NG
Reporting
Including Hard/Soft KPI’s evaluation, CSFB, Scanner, and
Ericsson/ALU Parameter Audit

23
 Next Generation RAN
Management

ActixOne in “traditional” optimization

- Use cases -
 Coverage and Over-shooter Analysis
Launch radio coverage
analysis for an area (e.g. RF
Zone) with one click

One-click selection of
coverage, over-shooter,
Antenna Visualization and crossed feeder analyses
Down-tilt Analysis
25
 Network/Technology Comparison &
Historical Analysis
Comparisons:
• Multiple networks
• Same network over time
• Different measurements on the
same network at the same time

e.g. Smith Field area

demonstrating significant
decrease in Throughput

26
 Exemplary Assisted
Optimization Use Cases
3: Cell Overshooter Detection
What
Detection of cells that have
overshooting coverage (which allow
calls to be initiated outside the planned
coverage).

Why Churn zone

Reduce interference and number of
dropped calls in the network (due to
non-availability of neighbours), thus
improving revenue.

Outcome
Visualise changes for
After running several analyses the - Azimuth bore angle
engineer will be able to recommend - Mech/Elec Tilt
- Height adjustment
changes to sector parameters, i.e.
downtilt the antenna, reduce antenna
height, adjust the bore angle.

27
 34: Drive Test Virtualization
What
CEA can be configured to provide a
virtual drive test, giving a statistically
valid assessment of key routes and
areas at a fraction of the cost of
traditional drive testing.
Why
Drive Testing is time consuming, costly
and inherently inaccurate method of
measuring a network.

Outcome
Key routes and areas can be configured Conventional drive test routes.
and up to date and accurate virtual
drive tests can be made available for
analysis by engineers. In addition
summary reports can be made
available to senior managers.
28
Live Demo
 Customer Experience Solution

Next Generation RAN Management

The network should answer business questions?

What is the signal strength for

roamer’s using data cards at
airports?

Places

What is the iPhone Network Where does poor

dropped call rate Phones People data performance
inside key corporate result in VIP
HQs? customer churn?
 A Strong Belief from Actix

The Customer-centric
approach changes
many facts of planning
and optimization, as
well expanding to
marketing & customer
care
Network performance isn’t customer experience
Cell DCR
D A 1.5%
B 1.8%
C 1.6%
A
D 1.4%
Corporate HQ

iPhone 4s

B
C
 What modern networks can tell you

Unique customers using data

Real customer
experience

Call by call
Customers & handsets
Geo-location
 What a modern network can tell you …

about your customer’s service experience

 Customer experience visualization Trend performance
and identify busy
View hotspots Data hotspot identification hours on a per
location basis
based on
connections and
data volumes

Establish the number

View where
of unique subscribers
capacity issues are
and handsets
causing blocks and
generating network
drops
load
 Track VIP & advocates
Are my VIPs happy Overview
• Track important customers,
measure their experience
and get notification when
they drop
• Diagnose the underlying
causes of dissatisfaction
Benefits
• Ensure vocal brand
advocates get the quality of
experience to keep them
onside
 Corporate Customers and VIP analytics
Investigate
individual dropped
/ blocked calls View call attribute and
View how the
radio technology
network supports
specific charts
VIP customers

Detailed layer 3 analysis

of calls on a message by
message basis
See where VIPs are
experiencing call
failures and their
cause
Get proactive
notification when VIPs
experience problems
 13: Handset/User Report
What
Analyze handset performance and
locations.

Why Churn zone

Detect poor performing handsets,
areas where smartphones have bad
coverage or low throughput or create a
handset inventory. May also help
negotiations with the handset vendors.
Analysis (for the handset
Outcome type) performed against a
polygon of interest
Areas to optimize based on handsets
type and a complete report of different
handset’s KPIs.
What a modern network can tell you …

for Next Generation RAN Optimization/

Management
 Exemplary Assisted
Optimization Use Cases
18: Advanced Call Diagnostics
What
Using the ActixOne diagnosis engine,
detailed diagnostics can be performed
for drops, blocks and other call failure
events.

Why Churn zone

ActixOne provides information for
identification and diagnosis of faults.
This will reduce the time the engineers
need to find out the root-cause of
problems.

Outcome
Engineers will get a more friendly
diagnosis message with also a short
description of the drop also when
possible with a suggestion to fix the
Root cause
issue. analysis
 Exemplary Assisted
Optimization Use Cases

6: Traffic Balancing/Shifting
What
Identify areas and sectors with high
number of congestion issues.

Why Churn zone

Optimize the traffic balance between
the sectors serving the congested area
or to suggest deploying a new site.
This will help carry more traffic and so
generate more revenue.

Outcome Traffic difference between

highlighted sectors
Congested areas

Congested areas identified, possible

changes on parameters or new site
needed.
Congested area
 Build handset
reports that break
Device Impact Analysis
out performance
by handset Establish how new
handsets are
performing Understand when and
where handsets are
being used and the
network quality they
experience

Find handsets that

generate excessive
Filter call failures by
network load
handset type (TAC)
 44: Handset Capabilities
What
Provide description of handset
capabilities by region.

Why Churn zone

New features may require certain
handset capabilities be supported.
Often a certain subscriber density is
required to support trial or roll out of
such features.

Outcome Regions shown are postcodes

A density map showing subscriber Can also segment with dimensions

density by handset and feature
capability.
 Use customer experience
data in network
RF Analytics
optimization

Combine with network

performance, drive test
and other data sources
Capacity, coverage, for detailed network
interference, optimization
accessibility, mobility
and retainability
analysis
 What a modern network can tell you …

using network-centric and customer-centric data

 Combined Customer and Business Analytics
Churn / Customer complaint troubleshooting

Load nationwide geo- Filter by reason:

located churn / Poor coverage
complaint information Dropped connections
By termination

Correlate with customer

experience
measurements to
identify problematic RF

Identify and tackle

areas of high churn /
complaints
 Last mile customer experience
Where are high value customers Overview
dropping calls – by postcode?
• Measure the network
coverage and experience
delivered across all
customers at each location
• Dashboards and reports
deliver segmented KPIs
Benefits
• Listen to the 99.9% of
customers that down
contact the help desk
• Reduce guess work
 Corporate performance
Coverage a corporate campus Overview
• Track the coverage and
performance both indoors
and outdoors at corporate
campuses
• Build reports for offline
consumption by sales

Benefits
• Sales can improve customer
retention and capture
• Create service improvement
plans for dissatisfied
 Churn zone targeting
Where is coverage causing churn? Overview
• Combine customer
experience and business
data to see where the
network impacts customers
who in term impact the
business
Churn zone
Value
• Focus campaigns and
resources to minimize
business impact
• Target small cell
deployments to customers
at risk of churn
 Customer complaints
Where are my customers Overview
complaining?
• Focus on the Top 10 areas
generating customer
complaints
• Establish cause of
complaints and networks
impact
Benefits
• Target network experience
• Plan individual marketing
campaigns to improve
satisfaction
 Revenue leakage
Unmet data demand Overview
• Understand where the
network is unable to meet
customer demand
• Identify capacity
bottlenecks and coverage
issue reducing usage
Benefits
• Identify opportunities to
boost service uptake with
minimal network
investment
 Customer experience analytics

Real customer Business Actionable

experience correlation Analysis

Call by call Churn Sales & Marketing

Customers & handsets Customer complaints Customer care
Geo-location Population Engineering
Customer Experience Analytics

Live Demo
Customer Experience Analytics for Quality Assurance &
Marketing

Bridging the Gap

 Customer Experience Analytics Impact
New Measure Establish
Policy
Subscriber core & RAN Patterns,
Revenue Identify usage and Trends &
management /
Services Monetization
experience Opportunities

Customer
Experience Analytics
Establish
Sales& Measure real Plan
customer Target churn
customer marketing
Marketing usage zones
Location intelligence experience
patterns
campaigns

RAN customer
experience: Drops, Detect &
Diagnose Design Deploy
blocks, throughput, RAN Prioritize
Underlying Optimization Solution on
Optimization RAN
capacity, coverage Problems
Cause Solution Network

Segmented by
customer and handset
Design
HeNet Understand Establish Deploy
Capacity /
Hotspots & Nature of Solution on
Planning Coverage
Coverage Demand Network
Solution
 Mobile organization: Feed the organization
CEO

Customer Advocacy
Customer Reports

CTO CMO COO

Engineering Optimization Product Managers Sales

Customer Analytics

Operations Business Analytics Customer Care

Technical customer care
Triage teams Customer Quality
Experience Quality processes
Analytics
 Key points
• More so than engineering Marketing and Sales teams struggle
to get analytics systems deployed

• Have ActixOne deployed within the RAN department –

combined with Actix’s web based interface provides a pre-
installed system that external groups can hook into

• All departments use the same data – have the same view, just
from a different perspective
ACTIXONE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
 Quality Assurance with ActixOne
Define KPIs and geographic
and customer segments for
focus
Define
Use before after
reports to see impact
of changes
Measure live and historical
performance in ActixOne.
Control Measure Generate reports, notifications
and interactive views

ActixOne

Create reports and tasks lists Improve Analyse Investigate problem areas to
to action the changes to the understand issues and
network underlying cause
 Define flexible KPIs

Drops & Blocks

RAB breakdown
Throughput
Coverage
Capacity
RF Measurement
IRAT …
Custom
KPIs • ActixOne flexible KPI
engine allows operators
the quality KPIs they
Segments want to measure
VIP Customers
• KPIs can reflect hourly,
Corporate offices
daily, weekly and longer
Points of Interest
term goals
Regions / Postcodes
Geographic areas • KPIs can be segmented
Transport by customer, handset and
Retail stores location
Handsets
 Segment KPIs:
Use fixed or free form geographic areas

Defined Regions: Markets, clusters, Key locations: Train stations,

Geographic Mesh
postcodes, …. corporate offices, retail stores
 Segment KPIs:
Customer, handset and roamers

• Spilt KPIs by:

– Connection type
– Device
– Indoor vs Outdoor
– Roaming status
– VIP
 Measure:
Get notification of quality of experience problems

• Notification mechanism
allows KPI breaches to be
flagged inside ActixOne
• Breaches listed as tasks
for further investigation
• Investigating a task
brings up all relevant
supporting data
 Measure
User static Reports to communicate KPIs
 Case Study: Maxis
Top 10 Areas Generating Churn

• Focused on the Top 10

with historically high
churn rates
• Churn data was filtered
to only include Churn
caused by Network
Issues
 Case Study: Maxis
Top 10 VIP Issues

• Focused on ensuring
VIP quality of
experience
• Each VIP was proactively
tracked
• Each VIP drop block call
was automatically
diagnosed and resolution
recommended
 Case Study: Maxis
Impact of process
• Process has been up and running for 6 months

• Successful resolutions are being added to a catalogue of

Customer Experience success stories – to raise the profile of the
in-house quality and optimization teams

• Point of impact reports are being built to target advertising

locations, to bid on an M2M (machine to machine) contract for
public transport, and to assist in targeting university students
ACTIXONE FOR MARKETING
 IBM CMO Survey – Actix comments
• 80% of CMOs rely on market research and competitive benchmarking
– Operators need to focus on the use phase – with “live” analysis of existing
customers
– They need to watch what users do – not just say.
– Actix provides live customer insight from the real use of the network
• Operators are swamped in user data and need to invest in new tools to improve
their analytics
– Operators taking money from advertising to invest in data gathering & CRM
– However marketing organizations aren’t technology savvy
– Actix allows technology savvy engineering and IT departments provide
customer intelligence directly to marketing
• Operators want to focus on enhancing customer loyalty and advocacy
– Advocates on social media are critical to operators success
– Actix allows operators to target advocates and other VIPs to understand
their experience
 IBM Survey Recommendations

Actix allows focus Actix provides

on individuals RAN customer
analytics
Actix provides RAN
customer analytics
Actix provides
“use” time data

Actix solutions are

already deployed
in engineering
 Impact on marketing
Customer service Campaign Planning
Churn zone targeting Service & device hotspots
Customer complaints Roaming locations
Retail store coverage

Actix

Lost revenues Customer Experience

Revenue leakage Last mile quality of experience
Track VIP & advocates
Corporate performance
 Service & device hotspots
Data demand Amsterdam Overview
• Actix captures exactly where
demand is occurring down
to 100m
• Split out demand by device
and customer

Value
• Market and sell services
and devices where demand
exists and the network can
support it – “where do iPad
users congregate at lunch
time”?
 Roaming locations
Where are roamers user now? Overview
• Establish exactly where high
value roamer customers
congregating
• See roaming patterns
change due to events

Value
• Target roaming campaigns
based actual demand
Hotel • Improve roamer capture at
expected and unexpected
locations
 Retail store coverage
Where are roamers now? Overview
• See the network coverage
and performance delivered
to high value locations such
as retail stores

Value
• Ensure “hour one” service
experience meets customer
expectations
• Ensure new retail stores are
supported by the network
 Track VIP & advocates
Are my VIPs happy Overview
• Track important customers,
measure their experience
and get notification when
they drop
• Diagnose the underlying
causes of dissatisfaction
Benefits
• Ensure vocal brand
advocates get the quality of
experience to keep them
onside
Your questions
Thank You!