OCTOBER 2007 ISSUE 34

CDMA All-IP leads the way

The harvest road of
Bakrie Telecom

A robust soft heart

Speeding up CDMA
international roaming

Reliance
sets full sail on its
All-IP journey
Reach for the sky and
transform your vision into reality.
Realize Your Potential
 The future of CDMA industry
Mobilization, broadband deployment and IP implementation have emerged as three
central features underpinning the development of modern telecom industry. No telecom
operator, whether fixed, mobile or integrated, dares to neglect the impact each of these
will have on future business development.

From 2G to 3G to B3G, the mobile communication field possesses the ability and
drive to improve radio resource utilization and high-speed data transport capabilities.
While UMB, LTE and WiMAX are all capable of transporting up to 100M of high-
speed data, the transmission of broadband data services such as real-time high-resolution
video services confronts operators with a host of challenges and problems in terms of
network restructuring and service integration. Nevertheless, traditional TDM-voice-
Sponsor: based mobile communication networks cannot avoid transformation.
Editorial Department of
As one of the mainstream mobile network systems, CDMA also requires fundamental
Huawei Technologies,
architectural transformation. Given fierce competition from the powerful GSM/UMTS,
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
CDMA technologies must be improved and, more urgently, IMS-oriented service
Consultants: capabilities must be optimized, the whole network operation cost must be lowered, so as
Xu Zhijun, Tao Jingwen, Yu Chengdong to win a competition edge by differentia, and provide a balanced, stable and sustainable
Ding Yun, Cai Liqun, Huang Chaowen beneficial network support in aspects of investment and revenue, quality and efficiency,
Yu Xiangping, Hou Jinlong, Wang Liangwen flexibility and reliability, development and innovation.

Managing Editor: During the 2nd Global CDMA Operation and Development Forum held in
Gao Xianrui Bandung, Indonesia, in July, 2007, experts and representatives from the CDMA
industry arrived at a common understanding regarding the development of the global
Editors: CDMA industry. Specifically, the future direction of broadband mobile networks must
Xue Hua, Xu Ping, Xu Peng
be based on IP in order to simplify networks and enhance their capabilities in terms of
Liu Zhonglin, Pan Tao, Yao Haifei
transmission, diversified service expansion, and intelligent maintenance.
Chen Yuhong, Zhou Shumin
Zhou Huajiao, Huang Zhuojian The major factors driving CDMA toward IP transformation derive from the need for
reduced operator TCO, the abundance of IP-based convergent commercial applications,
Contributors:
and smooth future evolution into UMB.
Zhang Xinyu, Jiang Tao, Yan Yun
Xie Jingping, Lei Yanping, Sun Yiyong Based on its rich experience in the mobile and IP technology fields and deep
Guo Hua, Li Wenxian, Ma Fulin understanding of future trends, Huawei has initiated an All-IP-based CDMA network
Du Kuntang, Tian Ye, Li Xiaojuan solution. This is designed to deliver VoIP services in an FMC convergent network;
Yang Kaijun, Li Chunlin, Ma Kefei provide high-speed DORA broadband services that satisfy various enterprise needs; offer
Wang Jianfeng, Ma Yue, Luo Weihua sustainable and optimized network maintenance; construct CDMA trunking services
that create special value for customers; and offer traditional WLL operators innovative
Tel: +86 755 28780808
service capability via NGN by LiteFME. These features will assist CDMA operators
Fax: +86 755 28356180
embark on a competitive and innovative development road regarding convergence of
Address: A10, Huawei Industrial Base,
mobile broadband and IP implementation.
Bantian, Longgang, Shenzhen,
China 518129 The future of the CDMA industry rests with All-IP based mobile broadband network
E-mail: HWtech@huawei.com architecture and its associated organization, operational processes and service provision
Publication registration No.: modes.
Yue B No.10148

Copyright © 2007 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.
No part of this issue may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means without
prior written consent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Cai Liqun
The information contained in this document is for President of Huawei CDMA
reference purpose only, and is subject to change product line
or withdrawal according to specific customer
requirements and conditions.
What’s inside:
Reliance sets full sail on its
All-IP journey

P.13 P.24
Global Digest Main Topic
01 China prepares 4G mobile data 21 A robust soft heart
specification for ITU Say “No” to softswitch heart attack
By Li Anming
02 Vodafone to launch mobile MusicStation
service in time for Christmas
24 Speeding up CDMA international
03 Huawei to deploy first WiMAX
roaming
16e-based commercial network for STC
By Wang Wei & Zeng Rong

What are the factors that have hindered CDMA international

roaming from progressing? What can be done to stimulate
Expert’s Forum
its rapid deployment?
05 CDMA All-IP leads the way
27 Enhancing competitiveness via
Cover Story All-IP BTS
By Wang Wei & Lei Yanping
13 Reliance sets full sail on its All-IP
journey
By Cui Xiaodan & Liu Zhonglin How to Operate
Why has the Indian CDMA industry 29 Romania Zapp embraces CDMA
achieved such an astonishing
development pace? An analysis of the
A 3G story that makes sense
success of India’s largest CDMA operator, By Victor Stan, Vice President
Reliance will shed some interesting light. and CTO of Telemobil S.A.
 OCTOBER 2007 • ISSUE 34

P.46 P.35 P.11

32 PerformA: your versatile assistant 43 To defend and grow through
in wireless network operation and LiteFME
maintenance By Li Guodong
By Lv Jingna Faced with inevitable network transformation to mobile and
IP, how should fixed and integrated operators with CDMA
35 Choice for global rural networks defend and grow new revenues?

communications
By Liu Zhixiong 45 TruStar: a true star of digital
trunking service
By Yuan Long
Interview
39 The harvest road of Bakrie 47 The HLR guardian
Telecom Indonesia
By Wan Yanqi & Wang Minghu
By Huawei Reporter

While it’s an undeniable trend that fixed operators are

suffering from a shrinking customer base, Barkie Telecom,
has rapidly grown its fixed wireless subscriber base from 20
Leading Edge
thousand to over 2 million in just five years. 49 Fast-developing CDMA UMB
technology
By Chen Xiuting
Solution
In August 2007, Qualcomm demonstrated the first 4G
41 Empowered by the 3rd generation radio system in San Diego: Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB).
BSC What are UMB’s technical features? What new experiences
By Wu Si can it deliver to customers?
 GLOBAL DIGEST
Events
Industry publishes UMB specification
CDG and 3GPP2 published the
UMB air interface specification. The
spec claims that UMB is the first IP-
based mobile broadband standard to
enable peak download data rates of
288 Mbps in a 20 MHz bandwidth,
while preserving large economies of
scope and scale. UMB is the latest
family member of CDMA2000
technologies and allows the transfer
of native IP at speeds that are
orders of magnitudes higher than
technologies commercially available
today, according to the standards
groups. UMB is an Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiple Access
China prepares 4G mobile data specification for ITU
China is planning to submit a
home-grown fourth-generation
(4G) mobile data specification to the
International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) in either 2008 or 2009,
according to Wen Ku of the Chinese
Ministry of Information Industry.
The Chinese 4G technology
will allow users to surf the web
and transmit files much faster than
Sprint plans WiMAX push in the
enterprise
Will Sprint put a big dent in the
market for fixed-mobile-convergence
in the enterprise? The operator
has revealed it plans to work with
enterprises on the rollout of its
WiMAX network, enabling businesses
to install femtocells inside their office
environments and take advantage of
automatic roaming onto the carrier's
WiMAX network outside.
The advantage for enterprises,
said Atish Gude, senior vice president
 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
(OFDMA) standard. UMB is expected
to seamlessly integrate with
CDMA2000 and EV-DO.
Here are a few of the specs:
High-Speed Data: Peak download
and upload speeds of 288 Mbps
and 75 Mbps, respectively; Increased
Data Capacity: Ability to deliver both
high-capacity voice and broadband
data events in mobile environments
at excess of 300 km/hr; Low Latency:
An average latency of 14.3 msec
over-the-air with minimal jitter;
Increased VoIP Capacity: Up to 1000
simultaneous VoIP users within a
single sector.
current 3G standards, Ku says,
giving it strong potential in the
wireless multimedia sector.
The search for a dominant
4 G s t a n d a rd i s s e t t o b e g i n
next year, with the ITU begins
accepting proposals from countries
around the world. The first 4G
networks will likely see commercial
deployment by around 2010.
of mobile broadband operations
at Sprint, is that the service will be
similar to WiFi but more secure and
with easy roaming onto a carrier
network. Sprint has issued RFPs for
WiMAX femtocells, and the carrier
expects large enterprises to buy and
deploy femtocells for consistent
coverage across their offices and
campuses, maintaining control over
them as they do with current WiFi
networks.
AT&T Wireless to increase upstream
mobile data bandwidth
American wireless giant, AT&T
Inc., is planning to upgrade its
mobile data network this fall,
allowing customers to upload
photos, videos, and other data
from their cell phones to the web
at up to six times the current speed.
AT&T’s president of wireless
services, Richard Burns, said that
the ability to upload data has
become increasingly important due
to the high popularity of MySpace,
YouTube, and personal blogs.
“Everybody in the street is
becoming a reporter so the desire
Starcomms deploys advanced
3G EV-DO, Rev. A in Nigeria
The CDMA Development Group
congratulates Starcomms Nigeria
Ltd. on its deployment of West
Africa's first CDMA2000 1xEV-DO,
Rev. A broadband wireless network
in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria and
West Africa's largest economy. The
CDG expects this deployment to
accelerate the pace of 3G CDMA
mobile broadband adoption for
to be able to upload is growing,”
Burns explained. “That’s become
a much bigger part of consumer
demand than it was just a few years
ago, when most mobile surfers only
wanted to download or retrieve
information from the web.”
Burns said that the upstream
bandwidth on AT&T’s high-speed
mobile data network would be
increased to 500 to 800 kilobytes
per second (kbps), from its current
level of 120 kbps. This upgrade will
be carried out on a nationwide basis
during October and November.
the entire region.
To improve service flexibility
and economic performance,
Starcomms' Rev. A network has
been enhanced with an IP-based,
next generation (NGN) SoftSwitch-
enabled network architecture.
St a rc o m m s a l s o ha s s o u rc e d
1 0 , 0 0 0 R e v. A P C M C I A d a t a
cards from Huawei to support the
introduction of several cutting-
edge mobile data services.
C D M A 2 0 0 0 1 x E V- D O R e v. A
offers average data throughputs
of 600-1400 kbps with bursts up
to 3.1 Mbps in the forward link,
and average data throughputs
of 350-500 kbps with bursts up
to 1.8 Mbps in the reverse link,
substantially lower latencies,
greater bi-directional symmetry
and advanced Quality of Service
mechanisms to support a myriad
of advanced mobile broadband
and delay sensitive services.

Vodafone to launch mobile MusicStation
service in time for Christmas
Vodafone customers in the UK
will soon be able to gain unlimited
access to a digital music library of
over one million songs on their
mobile phones, the wireless giant
announced.
Vo d a f o n e ’s f o r t h c o m i n g
MusicStation service will allow
customers to download unlimited
tracks from Universal Music Group,
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
EMI Music, and Warner Music
Group, directly over onto their, at a
cost of just £1.99 (US$4) per week.
FCC boosts wireless backhaul capabilities
The FCC has greenlit the use of
small antennas by 11 GHz licensees,
which could aid 3G and wireless
broadband carriers thanks to less
expensive and more competitive
wireless backhaul options. The
ruling follows a petition by
FiberTower, which recently inked a
WiMAX backhaul deal with Sprint
Nextel.
The ruling "should make it easier
for the last-mile delivery of wireless
Each MusicStation user will
be able to build a music-based
social network, messaging
their friends and sharing song
recommendations via a process
called “collaborative filtering.”
Downloaded songs will be stored
c e n t r a l l y, m e a n i n g t h a t i f a
customer’s handset is lost, stolen,
or has to be replaced, all music,
playlists, friends, and preferences
will automatically be restored.
The MusicStation service will
be available on a variety of new
and existing mobile phones before
Christmas, according to Vodafone.
“We’re building on the
momentum of our Vodafone
Mobile Internet launch and our
commitment to music through the
Vodafone TBAs and our Vodafone
Live Music Awards,” said the
company’s Chief Marketing Officer,
Tim Yates. “Today’s announcement
is a first for music on the mobile in
the UK and means a fundamental
change to the way people
experience music on their phones.”
broadband services to buildings
that may currently be difficult or
expensive to reach with antennas
allowed under our prior rules. I am
also pleased that the item endorses
principles to address aggregate
interference concerns in a manner
that protects incumbent licensees
while not disrupting the use and
expansion of terrestrial microwave
services in the band," said FCC
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
Data
$100 billion
The benefits of working
remotely now go well beyond
telecommuting, and an increasingly
complex ecosystem of applications
that enable work to be done from
mobile devices is developing. Mobile
data applications and services used
by business customers will generate
over US$100 billion in worldwide
revenue by 2012, according to a
recent forecast from ABI Research.
"Serving the business customer
with mobile applications and services
JPY11,340 per month
Japan’s top cell phone carrier,
NTT DoCoMo Inc., announced
recently that it would introduce
a flat-rate pricing scheme for its
wireless data services, in a bid to win
new mobile internet subscribers amid
stiff competition from rival carriers.
The new flat-rate plan is set to
take effect on October 22, and will
allow users to surf the web at speeds
135 million
CDG announced recently that
CDMA2000, continues to dominate
North America’s 3G wireless market.
More than 135 million North
American wireless subscribers
currently use some sort of
CDMA2000-enabled handset, and
22% of these own an EV-DO-based
mobile broadband device. The CDG
credits an increase in EV-DO demand
for a sharp, ongoing increase in the
revenue of CDMA wireless carriers.
“CDMA2000’s strong growth
in North America validates the
technology’s powerful and robust
evolution path,” commented CDG
provides great opportunities," says
ABI Research principal analyst Dan
Shey. "But the growing complexity
and interconnectedness of that
ecosystem also requires great
commitment by value chain players.
Before creating any strategy for
pursuing this segment, mobile
communications companies must
understand the nature of the
opportunity for revenues, growth
and ARPUs by vertical, occupation,
and size of business."
of up to 3.6 Mbps, at a maximum
cost of JPY11,340 per month,
including tax. NTT DoCoMo will also
offer maximum pricing of JPY4,725
including tax, on its lower-bandwidth
64 Kbps mobile data network.
The wireless giant would not
publicly speculate on what impact
the new pricing scheme would have
on future revenue.
executive director, Perry LaForge.
“Its superior performance, utility
and reliability have made it the
overwhelming choice for subscribers
who demand substantial value - in
other words, it is the best solution at
the most affordable price.”
North American CDMA2000
carriers are currently generating
more than US$3 billion in quarterly
revenue from mobile data services
alone. That’s more than US$34
million each day, or about as much
as the entire U.S. entertainment
and game software industry makes
on a daily basis.
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 
 GLOBAL DIGEST
Huawei News
Huawei to deploy first WiMAX 16e-based commercial
network for STC
R i yadh, Saudi Arabia-28
August 2007 Huawei announced
that Saudi Telecom (STC), the largest
service provider in Saudi Arabia, has
selected Huawei to deploy the first
WiMAX 802.16e-based network
in the Middle East, covering major
cities including Riyadh, Jeddah and
Dammam.
Under this agreement, Huawei
will design and deploy an end-
to-end WiMAX 802.16e network
including Base Station, Access
Service Network Gateway, Network
Management System, as well as an
Authorization, Authentication and
Accounting system. Huawei's end-
to-end WiMAX solution integrates
the most advanced technologies
such as orthogonal frequency
division multiple access (OFDMA)
and multiple-input multiple-output
(MIMO), enabling high-quality
network coverage and bandwidth
capacity. The distributed base station
provided by Huawei is easy-to-install,
featuring easy site acquisition and fast
rollout. The WiMAX 802.16e-based
network features high-quality
network coverage and bandwidth
capacity satisfying STC's needs to
accommodate an increasing number
of broadband subscribers.
 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
Reliance communications awards Huawei All-IP Next
Generation Network
M u m b a i , I n d i a -1 2 J u l y that seeks to extend its next
2007 Reliance Communications generation, integrated (wireless and
Ltd. (Reliance Communications) wire-line) convergent (voice, data
announced the award of a network and video) digital network to over
expansion contract, worth over 20,000 towns and 600,000 villages
USD 200 million, to Huawei. creating India's largest telecom
The current network expansion network.
undertaken by Reliance is the Reliance Communications'
largest wireless network expansion decision to choose Huawei comes
undertaken by any operator across after more than a year's intense
the world. scrutiny and stringent equipment
Under the agreement, Huawei tests.
will supply and provide services "We have chosen Huawei based
"We enjoy a longstanding
for CDMA & GSM base stations, on its established credentials as a
relationship with Huawei
including BSC (Base Station global company producing high
cooperating on different technology
Controller) and switches, and help quality products and solutions. The
fields such as GSM and WCDMA,"
to create first class All-IP Next relationship with Huawei will help
commented Bandar M. Al
Generation Network infrastructure. us maintain and strengthen our
Qafari, general manager of STC's
The technology provided by leadership position in India, the
Network Department. "Huawei
Huawei is expected to bring down world's fastest growing telecom
has the experience and technology
Reliance Communications' TCO by market," said Mr. Anil Dhirubhai
advantages in the WiMAX field and
enabling a significantly faster and Ambani, Chairman of Reliance
its WiMAX 16e solution enables the
more cost-effective expansion of Communications.
next generation network evolution.
existing CDMA & GSM network "We are extremely proud and
Huawei has successfully delivered
services. It will also enhance the happy to partner with Reliance
more than 5,000 wireless projects,
company's competitive advantage in Communications which has
and I'm confident that it will provide
attracting new subscribers. contributed immensely to the growth
us with an excellent network that
The contract will play a significant of the telecom sector in India and
will allow us to provide wireless
role in Reliance Communications' has always led from the front in
broadband access service to our
planned roll out of its pan-India expanding the domestic market," said
subscribers."
CDMA and GSM network expansion, Ms. Sun Yafang, Chairlady of Huawei.
Huawei actively promotes the
development of WiMAX and has
more than 600 engineers engaged in
WiMAX R&D. Huawei is an important
member of the WiMAX Forum and
IEEE standard organization, and
Huawei owns a number of essential
patents in WiMAX technology. Based
on its experience in both mobile and
IP fields, Huawei provides tailored
solutions for fixed and mobile
operators such as fast-to-deploy
networks that provide broadband
access services, VoIP and data
services for their customers.
Huawei to deploy CDMA2000 infrastructure for Cricket
Plano, Texas-11 July 2007
Huawei announced that it has
signed CDMA2000 infrastructure
agreements with Cricket
Communications, Inc., a wholly
owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless
International, Inc. and Denali
Spectrum Operations, LLC for
deployment of Huawei's latest
third-generation CDMA technology.
According to the agreement,
Huawei's 3G CDMA technology will
support operations in Leap's and
Denali's Advanced Wireless Services
(AWS) spectrum recently acquired
in FCC Auction 66.
Under the agreement, Huawei
will supply CDMA2000 1x, 1x
EV-DO Rev A, and IP based Base
Transceiver Station BTS3606;
Huawei IP platform softswitch-
SoftX3000 (MSCe) and UMG8900
(Media Gateway); and high
capacity Air Bridge. The design
will incorporate Huawei's unique
dual homing switch solution as
well as end-to-end IP backhaul for
increased reliability.
Global 3GPP2 event in Kunming China
Kunming China-10 July 2007
Huawei announced that it
successfully hosted the global
3GPP2 super meeting and SC/OP
meeting in Kunming, China attended
by 200 industrial experts coming
from the likes of China Unicom,
Verizon Wireless, KDDI, SKT,
Qualcomm.
During the meeting, Huawei
and industrial experts focused
on topics including UMB access
network, 3GPP2 evolved network
and Multimedia Domain (MMD)
enhancement. Among them,
the 3GPP2 evolution network
Earlier in 2007, Huawei
successfully launched a third-
generation CDMA system for
Cricket® service in the cities of
Spokane, Wash., Boise, Idaho
and Reno, Nev., a significant
milestone in Cricket's first contract
with Huawei to deploy its CDMA
technology.
"Throughout our in-depth
testing and recent commercial
launch in the Northwest, Huawei
has proven to be a strong business
partner sharing our focus on
network quality and reliability while
also providing an extremely strong
technical evolution path," said
Glenn Umetsu, Leap's executive
vice president, engineering and
technical operations. "Our strategic
partnership with Huawei allows
us to further enhance our focus
on delivering the highest quality
networks and consumer services
while maintaining our leadership
position on cost, especially as
we bring Cricket services to new
markets."
proposals, including common
accessing platform and flattened
network issues, will pave the way
from current network to UMB
network for CDMA operators.
FMC, VoIP and HDTV over wireless
broadband, which enables the
subscribers accessing wireless
broadband multimedia service
anytime and anywhere were also
covered by MMD enhancement
proposals as was the issue of large
capacity VoIP and Video Telephony
services that can be deployed by
CDMA operators without further
investment.
3COM announces agreement to be acquired by Bain
Capital Partners for $5.30 per share in cash
MARLBOROUGH, MA-28 Sep
2007 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ:
COMS) announced that it has signed
a definitive merger agreement to be
acquired by affiliates of Bain Capital
Partners, LLC, a leading global private
investment firm, for approximately
$2.2 billion in cash. As part of the
transaction, Huawei Tech Investment
Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned Hong
Kong based subsidiary of Huawei,
will acquire a minority interest in the
company and become a commercial
and strategic partner of 3Com.
The Board of Directors of
3Com has unanimously approved
the merger agreement and has
resolved to recommend that 3Com's
shareholders adopt the agreement.
"The 3Com Board of Directors
and senior management team have
thoroughly reviewed our strategic
alternatives and have determined
that the agreement with Bain
Capital provides the best value for
3Com shareholders," said Edgar
Masri, 3Com president and chief
executive officer. "We believe that
this agreement better positions
3Com to establish itself as a global
networking leader, which will benefit
our employees, our customers and
our partners."
"As business becomes ever more
global, companies need to enhance
their technology infrastructure to
compete more effectively in the
broader economy," said Jonathan
Zhu, a Bain Capital Managing
Director, based in Hong Kong.
"3Com has a strong competitive
position, and we believe there are
significant opportunities to grow by
acquiring customers and introducing
new products. We look forward
to working with the management
team and the company's strategic
partners to seize the worldwide
growth opportunity that exists for
3Com's communications networking
solutions."
"This is a commercial investment
for Huawei. We believe the new
ownership structure will help 3Com
to improve its business operations,
p ro v i d e b e t t e r p ro d u c t s a n d
services and bring more value to its
customer," said Mr. Ren Zhengfei,
CEO of Huawei Technologies.
The transaction is expected to
be completed by the first quarter
of calendar year 2008, subject
to receipt of 3Com shareholder
approval, customary regulatory
approvals and other customary
closing conditions.
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 
 EXPERT’S FORUM
CDMA All-IP leads the way

 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34

 Huawei Technologies

Bandung, Indonesia, July 2007 - the Second Global CDMA Operation and Development Forum,
hosted by Huawei, together with QUALCOMM International, CDMA Development Group and
International 450 Association, was successfully held. Industrial experts and operators globally
attended the forum, themed “Network Operation and Subscriber Development”. At the forum,
Huawei reiterated its support towards CDMA All-IP networking solution, which is gaining industry
recognition, and expected to be the mainstream tendency in several years of the future.

OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 

 EXPERT’S FORUM
EXPERT’S FORUM
Dr. Patrick TSIE serves as Regional Technical Marketing Director of Qualcomm International Inc. He is
responsible for 3G CDMA based technology marketing and also providing technical engineering advice &
consultancy to the operators in South East Asia & Pacific region. Prior to joining Qualcomm, Patrick worked for
Hutchison Telecom Ltd more than seven years, and was responsible for CDMA & WCDMA network projects.
EV-DO pushing the limits of mobile broadband
By Dr. Patrick TSIE & Perry Laforge
W
hen it comes to wireless
broadband, EV-DO
sets the standard. In
1998, when it was first
introduced, it was the
first wireless technology to transfer data
above 1 Mbps. More accurately, it was
the first mobile broadband technology to
download packets of data at speeds of as
high as 2.4 Mbps, providing a broadband
experience equivalent to that of wired
connections such as the Ethernet, cable
or DSL. It transformed the wireless
industry, and quickly became known as
the "Walking DSL" in Korea.
Today, more than 76 million people in
47 countries are using EV-DO handsets
(source: www.cdg.org), PC cards, modems
and embedded laptop modules to access
the worldwide web and their corporate
virtual private networks (VPN), download
music, videos, email attachments, and enjoy
other applications while on the go. It has
impacted many corporate functions and
industries, especially field sales and services,
by improving productivity, customer
satisfaction and sales. But that was just
the beginning. The next quantum leap in
mobile broadband has just been introduced.
On October 24th, 2006, Sprint Nextel
launched the world’s very first EV-DO Rev.
A service, to offer advanced broadband
services over their Power Vision (SM)
broadband network. When completed, the
network will reach more than 200 million
people throughout the United States. It
will also allow them to migrate more than
23 million iDEN subscribers to their
 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
core CDMA2000 network, which will
support high-performance push-to-talk
services. Sprint Nextel is now delivering a
whole new broadband experience to their
customers. Several other operators from
around the world are expected to follow
their lead in the next few months.
Besides supporting delay sensitive
applications such as VoIP with significantly
lower latencies and quality of service (QoS),
the EV-DO Rev. A upgrade will offer
users much faster upload speeds, as high as
300-400 kbps, with data bursts up to 1.8
Mbps. The technology will also enable faster
download speeds of 450-800 kbps, with data
bursts up to 3.1 Mbps. As a result, Sprint
Nextel’s Power Vision subscribers will have
access to a richer set of advanced mobile
broadband services such as high-performance
push-to-talk (walkie-talkie services), IP video
telephony, multicasting, multi-user video
conferencing, real-time gaming, music on
demand, video messaging, live webcams,
and the ability to upload large files, such as
email attachments, photographs and personal
videos, from a Rev. A mobile device.
The next step in the evolution of
mobile broadband communications
will be Rev. B in 2008. EV-DO Rev. B
builds on the efficiencies of Rev. A by
dynamically allocating more radio spectrum
for particular locations, customers, or
applications to increase data throughput.
By grouping up to fifteen 1.25 MHz
carriers in 20 MHz of bandwidth, Rev. B
will support peak data rates as high as 73
Mbps in the forward link and 27 Mbps
in the reverse link. To preserve a carrier's
previous investments, the broadband system
is backward and forward compatible with
previous revisions of 1x EV-DO, allowing
the newer Rev. B handsets to work on the
older EV-DO systems and vice versa.
Beyond Rev. B comes the next break-
through in mobile broadband technology
- Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) based
on the Rev C standard, which will be
commercially available in early 2009.
UMB combines several technologies
including OFDMA, OFDM, LS-OFDM,
CDMA, and TDM with advanced antenna
techniques such as MIMO and SDMA
to achieve an order of magnitude higher
peak data rates than any other technology,
up to 260 Mbps in a 20 MHz bandwidth.
The technology will also support extremely
low latencies, below 20 msec, to further
improve the broadband experience.
Due to its substantial performance
advantage, evolutionary nature, spectrum
flexibility, existing supplier base and time-
to-market advantage, UMB is expected
to leapfrog the other wireless broadband
technologies to become the leading
standard adopted for next generation
mobile telecommunications.
The future of mobile broadband is
bright for CDMA2000 operators. The
technology’s roadmap will continue to
lead the industry by substantially increasing
performance while reducing costs. The user
experience will also continue to improve, with
fast, easy access to and delivery of information,
a wider selection of affordable devices to fit
individual lifestyles, and increased battery life
to offer true freedom in mobility.

James Person, the Chief Operating Officer for the CDMA Development Group (CDG). He leads the efforts of
CDG for all regional development, and he has responsibility for the strategic and technical programs of CDG.
The CDG spearheads the adoption and evolution of CDMA wireless systems around the world.
CDMA2000 global adoption & deployment
By James Person
C
DMA is rapidly leading
the way to 3G. Of course
CDMA2000 is part of the
3G story. EV-DO was the
first All-IP 3G network.
CDMA2000 has a lead in a number of
ways. The lead in commercialization of
VoIP Broadband services. And a lead as
we’re moving to what comes after the
third generation or in CDMA what we
call Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB). We
believe UMB will be the first market with
that level of support in technology. Over
few weeks ago, we have over 220 CDMA
operators in nearly 100 countries. You can
see the breakdown by region.
The largest single region is Asia-Pacific
region, led by growth in China, India and
now in Indonesia. But percentage growth
is going rapidly in places like Africa so
EMEA continues to rise. In Japan, 60% of
the base now is 3G. In North America 3G
subscribers surpasses 2G subscribers at the
end of last year. In Korea, 3G subscribers
surpassed 2G subscribers in 2 years. And
in Western Europe we expect that 3G
subscribers will surpass 2G subscribers in
2008. So, we’re moving rapidly to 3G and
this is not happening only in developed
market. The market is just coming up of
new subscribers here in Indonesia. All the
new subscribers in India, Africa are going
on to 3G networks.
I want to talk a little about CDMA2000
evolution and what’s going on with Rev.A.
In developed market we see an evolution
of services. Initially of course in cellular
we were just voice service and then SMS
and now people want to take Internet
with them. They want video services, they
want live television, and they want to have
services that used to be in wired market
now they are in wireless environment.
Individuals contribute content so people
are using their mobile phones to take
video, to take photograph and they want
to upload those photographs and videos
to the network and for something like that
you need a broader bandwidth even in the
upstream direction.
Rev.A is definitely the most current
deployment of EV-DO. A number of
operators have commercially deployed
CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev.A and this
number continues to grow. Many deployed
EV-DO Rev.A in this current year.
CDMA EV-DO Rev.A offers a number
of advantages.
First, greater capacity can support
many more customers with the same
spectrum. With an All-IP core, operators
have the capability to offer VoIP and many
integrated services beyond just voice, SMS,
and data but video services as well with
equal saving on the transport, and with
higher throughput bandwidth that provides
many new applications for consumers and
businesses that you can offer and are being
offered around the world.
In regard to the evolution path, I
mentioned about 1X, around 2002
we moved to EV-DO, and last year we
Huawei Technologies
have launched Rev.A. Rev.B has been
standardized already and we expect
commercial implementation of Rev.B
either the end of this year or early next
year. Rev.B is simply taking multiple Rev.A
channels and aggregating them to provide
greater bandwidth, greater throughout.
UMB will take us to the next
generation. If you have WCDMA network
you can be confident that you have a very
strong evolution path and you’re ahead of
other technologies in terms of evolution.
Second, CDMA has a huge advantage
in terms of coverage. In Indonesia which
spreads over 10 thousand islands, 220
million people having a great coverage
is a real strength. We see this in other
developing markets as well, in India, in
Africa, in many places. The advantage is
clear with CDMA network as it can take
advantage of different spectrum bands.
In EV-DO network that provides VoIP
service, 1X network can cover a very large
area. So if you think about expanding
network I encourage you to think about
the cost.
CDMA industry is working rapidly from
2G network to 3G network. CDMA2000
continues to lead with 70% market share.
It’s a mature industry - we have a cast of
industry players, handset manufacturers,
infrastructure manufacturers. We have a
strong evolution path. Now we have All-
IP network based on CDMA which is
leading us to the evolution of innovative
technology, devices and services.
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 
 EXPERT’S FORUM
EXPERT’S FORUM
Manoj Menon heads the ICT Practice research and consulting division at Frost & Sullivan in the Asia Pacific
region. In addition to directly driving the business in the Southeast Asian offices, he continuously identifies
future rich technology pockets aligned to the division’s core competency in telecommunications, enterprise
communications and convergence.
CDMA market update
Evolving trends of the
telecom industry
H
ow we see the industr y
evolving from a
telecommunication
p e r s p e c t i ve ? W h a t a re
some broad trends and
what operators need to do to be able to
capitalize on these trends and bring them
to the business? It’s truly a very interesting
time for us in the telecommunication
industry. A lot of changes are taking place
in the industry - a lot of new trends,
a lot of new technologies and a lot of
innovations.
For telecom service providers, one thing
that keeps them awake at night which
frightens them is the pace of change and
innovation. Jack Welch once said: “When
the pace of change in your business is
slower than the pace of change in the
industry, then the end is near.” And if
you’re in the telecom business you will see
so much change and innovation coming
from all these Internet and start-up
companies which are disrupting the flow
of regular business.
Let’s take a look at five broad trends
within the overall communications
 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
By Manoj Menon
landscape and try to understand how these
trends are going to impact the telecom
service provider and its business model in
the next five to seven years time.
I think the number one challenge is
the new Internet-based competitors like
Skype and the Googles of this world.
What is so fundamentally different about
them? And why is that a big challenge
for telecom service providers? The big
difference is that when they start their
business, they are participating in the
global marketplace. They don’t just
participate in the Indonesian market or
the US market or the Japanese market.
Certainly, the scale of operation that
they are participating in is very different
to the operation scale of any traditional
telecom service provider. And that is a
big competitive advantage that they enjoy
and bring to the business because they are
able to amortize the cost and also look
at revenue over billions of customers as
compared to you and me who are very
focus on other aspects of geographic
market.
The second trend is about self-
expression. The way consumers
communicate is changing very rapidly.
The way people communicate themselves
is changing far too quickly. And you,
as operators in this business, need to be
able to capitalize on this trend. The next-
generation of users see the need to express
themselves, and that is why we begin
to see a huge growth in user-generated
content like MySpace and Wikipedia. This
shows just how important and big this
business is. Wikipedia which is an online
encyclopedia run by users’ contribution
has about 1.3 or 1.4 million articles. In
contrast, the Britannica encyclopedia,
which has been around for decades, has
got less than a hundred thousand articles.
The second type of trend that we need to
understand is that we need to be able to
capitalize on the need of users to express
themselves.
The third key issue is the long tail.
It’s an absolute must read. What is long
tail? This is a book written by Chris
Anderson. And what it talks about is that
traditionally, we’ve all made money by
following the 80/20 rule. That means 20
percent of customers give us 80 percent of
revenue and profit.
The next point is search. Search is
manifesting itself into every single thing
we do. The first thing you do when you go
to the Internet is search. Search helps us
to reach customers or reach the point of
information we are looking at. So service is

going to be embedded into different forms
of communication and we are going to be
more involved.
The final key point is video. The actual
time spent on each page is increasing.
Thereby, we are actually voting more and
more video content. So video is becoming
the mainstream on traditional Internet
and it is something that we, as mobile
operators, need to start factoring as you
build your business moving forward.
So, to summarize these trends:
Traditionally, as a consumer, what we do
is to switch on the TV, surf the channels,
and go to sleep. But the new consumer
demands a certain expectation - his needs
are to search first, he will then participate
because of user-generated content, and he
will want to personalize.
So your role as telecom service
providers has to change as we progress
further. It is no longer just about putting
up the network, allowing people to talk
to each other and making the money
from this. It is really about you and the
company orchestrating the experience
across the multiple access platforms
that you may have - be it fixed, be it
mobile - addressing his needs not just
to communicate using the phone, but
also through the Internet. And most
importantly, orchestrate the experience to
the multiple things that he or she wants
to do. For telecom service providers to
move forward and succeed, you have to
really work towards being an experienced
orchestrator.
Evolving trends of
wireless network
The global trends of wireless perspective
are four most important trends in our
opinion.
Fi r s t , t e l e c o m o p e r a t o r s n e e d t o
optimize CAPEX and OPEX because
the growth is really at the low end of
the market. And in order to be able to
serve the low-end market effectively, you
need a low cost structure. Traditionally,
telecom companies are the least automated
organizations in the world. You compare
them with a banking organization and we
are maybe seven years behind in terms of
automation. Growth is predominantly in
the developing regions of the world.
The next focus is to grow the non-voice
business because the voice business will
continue to fluctuate due to the increasing
price competition.
Next is the need to move towards
an All-IP environment so that you can
orchestrate the experience and provide
unified customer experience across
multiple access points and devices.
Essentially, the CDMA market is growing
and we see good growth in subscriber
Huawei Technologies
numbers globally. Asia-Pacific continues
to account for the bulk of this growth
and currently represents 46 percent of the
market. Asia-Pacific has traditionally been a
GSM market. Today, however, the growth
is in the developing markets like Indonesia,
India, Cambodia and Pakistan, which are
largely CDMA operator controlled.
For CDMA 1x EV-DO, Huawei has, by
far, the largest number of contract wins in
the first half of 2007. If you take a closer
look, 1X is predominantly an emerging
segment and you will find that vendors
like Huawei have done extremely well as
compared to other traditional vendors
in the global market. With CDMA450
we have seen a lot of success in Eastern
Europe, Asia, and Russia as well. Again,
we see Huawei do well there.
In the trend towards softswitching,
which is the first step towards IP
migration, once again we see good growth
particularly in emerging markets, as well
as elsewhere globally. I want to capture
some key trends from the suppliers’
perspective - what are customers asking
of suppliers? Clearly, telecom service
providers expect suppliers to give them
end-to-end solutions. Traditionally, if
we go back maybe seven or eight years,
a telecom service provider would engage
a wide variety of vendors and would not
have expected suppliers to offer end-to-end
solutions.
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 10
 EXPERT’S FORUM
EXPERT’S FORUM
Tina Radford is the Chairman of the International 450 Association and also heads up the IA450 Terminal
Working Group activities. Tina has more than 15 years souring & program management experience in the
Telecom industry spanning CDMA450, TETRA, Analogue 450 LEMS, GSM and ETACS with a particular focus on
procurement & project management.

Capitalizing upon the CDMA450

opportunity
By Tina Radford

T
he first operator who has
the CDMA450 license is
in Romania. Lacking of
WLL deployment, Romania
started their license and
operation with two kinds of big and
heavy handsets, while today’s operation
is much easier. With the problem of
handset being solved, the CDMA450
has been getting more and more popular.
Nowadays, 31 countries have deployed
CDMA450 with at least 48 commercial
networks. Among them, 14 are EV-DO
and many EV-DO networks are trying
Rev.A. Over 40 million commercial
subscribers in CDMA450 worldwide and
about 75% of them are WLL deployment.
Many operators in emerging market are
deploying CDMA450 with WLL.
Based on the existing infrastructure,
operators use less BTSs to realize the
coverage, thus the investment cost for
changing to CDMA450 is much less than
other technologies.
CDMA450 deployment
around the world
I n Me x i c o , Te l Me x , a l a r g e a n d
fast growing company, is deploying
CDMA450. TelMex has done trials and
plans to commercialize CDMA450 this
year. In Argentina, two operators have
deployed CDMA450.
Africa is an interesting place for
CDMA450. In some countries, however,
the spectrum of CDMA450 is occupied
by private networks like Walkie Talkie or
other solutions. To deploy CDMA450,
the spectrum needs to be cleared and
Africa operators need support from an
independent party who understands their
needs and can coordinate with regulators if
necessary. In Tanzania, Benson Informatics
has commercialized CDMA450 last
year and got more than 80 thousands
subscribers. They have also got 1X handset

11 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34


and WLL in market.
The CDMA450 is originated from
Europe where is GSM dominated and
the competition is strong. Telefonica
O2 in Czech Republic launched the first
CDMA450 EV-DO in August 2004
with subscribers ARPU around 50 Euro.
The REV.A is also in trials. Another new
operator called Mobilkon has 410 MHz
spectrum (O block).
Nordisk Mobile Telephone, an operator
who has licenses and operations in Norway,
Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Ireland,
has commercially deployed CDMA450
in Norway and Sweden. As deploying the
GSM/UMTS is not proper there, Nordisk
uses the EV-DO WiFi Gateway developed
by Huawei to provide high-end services,
which has good antenna performance and
provides services to Scandinavia people. In
Norway, people can be online when they go
to summerhouse, go fishing, or around the
field due to the using of the networks based
on CDMA450, NMT, and WiFi Gateway.
In Poland, a very big growth area for
CDMA450, people are discussing how and
when CDMA450 is deployed. In Portugal,
the operator Radiomovel has EV-DO data
product and modem developed by Huawei.
In Russia, the operator Skylink has about half
million subscribers. Skylink’s business focuses
on mid high-end handset and is in DO.
Skylink launched a dual band CDMA450
handset in Russia five months ago.
In Indonesia, the operator STI has 10
thousand WLL subscribers increased each
month. In Pakistan, five operators have
CDMA450 or CDMA479 that is F block.
IA450 has discussed with operators in
Pakistan eight months ago to standardize
specifications and to develop low cost
WLL product. In Philippines, operators
Innove and Textron deploy CDMA450.
In Vietnam, the operator EVN Telecom
launched CDMA450 in March last year,
covering the entire country and having
more than 1.6 million subscribers. About
60%-70% of them are WLL, but 1X still
has big market. The EVN Telecom is also
trialing EV-DO.
About CDMA450 handset
Handset was a big problem for
CDMA450 but it is much less a challenge
now. To better develop the CDMA450, the
handset price must come down to support
customers; the vendors need cooperation
with operators to promote CDMA450.
Besides, the test and acceptance criteria
among operators need to be standardized
under the CDG group as the CCF testing
covers a very detailed testing of handset.
More technology forum discussions need
to be organized so that operators can
communicate with each other and share
resources. More forums will also help
to expand the market and make better
deployment of CDMA450.
Handset is now available from low end
to high end. Low end handset provides basic
voice and SMS and it is low cost. High end
handset is dual band, EV-DO, CDMA450,
with camera, MP3, MP4. DO products
indicate products commercially available for
EV-DO Rev.0 and trial Rev. A. As operators
use other blocks in CDMA450, vendors
have provided a big range of devices and
Huawei Technologies
solutions for these blocks. Dual band is
already covered and dual band products are
being developed for the industry.
There are many handsets in fixed
wireless type. For example, Huawei has
many handsets for CDMA450 - some
support the voice, SMS only; others
support voice and data. Most of the
handsets for CDMA450 come from
vendors in Korea, but vendors in China,
such as Huawei are also providing relevant
handsets, together with infrastructure.
Another type of handset is Mid Tier
devices with clam shell and bar type. Most
handsets in this type support Bluetooth
solution; they can be used to download
applications, ring tones, wall papers,
emails, etc. on the air. LG decided to
launch their first CDMA450 to the world
one and a half year ago, which was big
news for the industry.
Many vendors are working with design
companies outside of Asia and trying
to build product that is more European
generic design. They focus more on the
Asia market where most of the handsets
are smaller and lighter than some of the
industry would require.
Some high end CDMA450 devices are
sold well in Russia and they are launched in
Europe. A variety of EV-DO handsets are
developed and some Rev.A 450 handsets
are being discussed. Many solutions are also
developed, such as items that are plugged
in to the laptop like a piece of CMC card,
USB modem type with the cable, gateway
products, and USB stick type.
Editor: Zhou Huajiao zhouhj@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 12
 COVER STORY
Reliance sets full sail on its All-IP journey

According to Indian telecom authority statistics, the number of Indian CDMA subscribers increased
by 125% in 2006, which exceeded the 79% rise in GSM subscribers over the same period. Up
until March 2007, the Indian CDMA industry has achieved seven world records, including fastest
subscriber and market growth rates. Some commentators even forecast that India will overtake China
and become the world’s largest CDMA market over the coming decade.

Why has the Indian CDMA industry achieved such an astonishing development pace? An analysis
of the success of India’s largest CDMA operator, Reliance Communications Ltd., will shed some
interesting light.

RELIANCE
sets full sail on its All-IP journey
By Cui Xiaodan & Liu Zhonglin

13 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34


Under huge development
pressures
I
ndia has the world’s second largest
population of over 1.1 billion. As a
large developing nation, its telecom
industry took off rather late and
progressed quite slowly prior to 1999.
Nevertheless, recent political stability has
stimulated fast and continuous economic
growth, which prompted the fast growth of
the telecom industry.
In 2004, India’s mobile phone penetration
rate was less than 4.5%, and had reached
only 7% by the end of 2005, far behind those
of its neighboring countries and regions.
However, from 2005 to 2006, India raised
its subscriber numbers from 50 million to
100 million in just 14 months, and this is
expected to double by the end of 2007. As a
member of the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia,
India and China), India’s huge telecom
market has become one of the world’s most
sought-after markets.
Reliance, established in 1999, is an
integrated telecom operator. Its CDMA
network was initiated in 2000, and its first
CDMA base transceiver station (BTS) was
constructed and deployed in 2001. In such a
huge telecom market with almost unlimited
potential, Reliance is facing considerable
Huawei Technologies
developmental pressures for a number of
reasons.
Unprecedentedly fierce market
competition
In addition to state-owned enterprises
(SOEs), India telecom market is open to
foreign-funded and private enterprises.
Statistics show that the Indian government has
issued 71 telecom operation licenses, covering
23 telecom districts, with each district holding
between 6 and 9 licenses. This far exceeds
comparative global statistics. An open Indian
telecom industry has subsequently created a
level of competition rarely seen elsewhere, and
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 14
 COVER STORY
Reliance sets full sail on its All-IP journey
which sharply contrasts with the fixed phone market that
is currently monopolized by state-owned operators.
India has a total of 11 mobile operators, 6 of which
are positioned in the CDMA field. Except for the SOEs
BSNL and MTNL, all are private operators including
Reliance and multinational operators such as Vodafone
and Singtel.
To succeed in this competitive arena, many telecom
enterprises have no choice but to invest heavily. In
2005’s fiscal year, for example, Bharti invested nearly
US$1 billion to continue its GSM network expansion,
while Reliance invested 90 billion rupees (US$2
billion) to expand its network coverage to 400,000
villages and 5,700 towns and cities.
To further stimulate competition, the Indian
communication administration may launch Mobile
Number Portability (MNP) and Carrier Access Choice
(CAC). After MNP implementation, subscribers can
switch operators while keeping their original telephone
numbers; and CAC will allow consumers to freely switch
between operators during domestic and international
roaming based on different tariffs and services conditions.
Unsurprisingly, Indian mobile operators are bracing
themselves for unparalleled levels of competition.
Extremely low tariffs
Low and medium-end consumer groups account
for a large proportion of the Indian telecom market,
meaning that tariffs cannot be excessively high. The
current average charge per minute for a local mobile
phone call is a one-way rate of US$0.01. Moreover, toll
and roaming charges are less than US$0.03 per minute,
far lower than the international average. These low
charges serve to intensify competitive pressures.
India’s CDMA services are also targeted at low
and medium-end consumer groups and the tariffs
15 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
are significantly lower than those for GSM services.
Currently, the mixed RPM (revenue per minute) of
CDMA services is just INR0.52, 38.8% lower than
GSM mixed services. In the fourth quarter of 2006,
mixed CDMA ARPU was INR196, of which INR456
was postpaid and INR159 prepaid.
Low tariffs generate low ARPU, and operators
require more time to recoup investment. These
pressures have delivered extreme problems in terms
of Reliance’s OPEX levels.
Severely harsh network environment
Due to the country’s complex topography,
unrelenting rainy season, high temperatures, flood
threat and a generally hostile natural environment,
mobile network safety is frequently under threat.
And the threat is further exacerbated by power
interruptions, unstable power supply, fire, theft and
various other emergency conditions.
Meanwhile, Reliance’s CDMA network serves high-
end customers such as government institutions, banks,
and securities companies, which have extremely high
requirements on network reliability and security.
Urgent need for network transformation
Fierce competition has culminated in both a sustained
decrease in tariffs and a rapid subscriber growth. Since
2002, the Indian telecom industry ended the stagnation
that characterized the 1990s, and development has
exponentially accelerated. The competitive environment
and the drive for survival and growth have urged operators
to unceasingly optimize and expand networks, strengthen
internal management and improve operational levels.
Given the challenging conditions and the need
to strengthen its competitiveness, Reliance felt an
urgent need to expedite CDMA network construction

and optimization, while reducing CAPEX and
maintenance costs. Network reliability, QoS, service
innovation and launch speeds have been rapidly
improved so as to guarantee a fast increase in
subscriber numbers, enhance customer loyalty and
increase market share.
However, Reliance’s original TDM based CDMA
network generates significant problems. Network
coverage expansion entails extremely high costs
if TDM construction is adhered to, and network
structure complexity will rise as will OPEX. It would
also be difficult to quickly launch innovative services
and adapt to IP network development trends. So the
traditional CDMA network became a bottleneck
inhibiting Reliance’s development and causing an
urgent demand for an operational strategy shift and
the move toward network transformation.
How to cope?
Since Dhirubhal Ambani established Reliance
eight years ago, the company has embodied global
digital revolution in its vision. Unprecedented
competition levels, huge OPEX pressures, rapid
subscriber growth, a harsh network environment, and
outdated technology and equipment of the existing
network led Reliance’s decision-makers to conclude
that unique operational and sustainable development
strategies are essential. Arun Sur, Reliance’s CDMA
CTO viewed that transformation forms the only way
to survive and realize future growth, and determined
to adopt an All-IP CDMA development strategy.
The strategy is three-fold. Firstly, an innovative and
mature end-to-end CDMA All-IP solution needed
to be utilized to reconstruct and expand the existing
network - This would improve overall network
competitiveness, and lay a solid foundation for smooth
Given the challenging conditions and the need to
strengthen its competitiveness, Reliance felt an urgent
need to expedite CDMA network construction and
optimization, while reducing Capital Expenditure and
maintenance costs.
Huawei Technologies
future 3G evolution. Secondly, cost-conscious network
construction employing this solution would reduce
OPEX when network indicators have been secured,
allowing subscribers to receive highly cost-effective
services. Thirdly, rapid deployment via CDMA All-IP
should be realized, and the window of opportunity to
garner a meaningful market share accomplished.
Adapting to the All-IP development trend
In recent years, both mobile network and fixed network
operators have based their long-term development on
All-IP solutions. As the core of future mobile network
development, All-IP is forming the foundation for
perfecting the individual communication platform.
After experiencing a bubble since the turn of
the century, many operators including Reliance
are turning to network transformation as the only
meaningful way to move past the service innovation
bottleneck and secure a place as a competitive force in
the new communications era.
For Reliance, transformation provides the key to unseal
a new business model. When new services are added,
relevant network nodes and switches across the entire
network require reconstruction and upgrading.
Based on the original TDMs closed network structure,
it is impossible to support a beneficial value chain among
equipment vendors, network operators and application
developers. Under such circumstance, operators’ value-
added service costs are inevitably increased and time to
market prolonged. Conversely, the introduction of All-IP
improves the industry chain in a way that makes service
innovation and introduction less complex and more
rapid. In this way Reliance can more efficiently respond
to the market in an appropriate time frame.
India has become a global CDMA hot spot and
operators who seek success could do worse than heed the
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 16
 COVER STORY
Reliance sets full sail on its All-IP journey
words of the Indian poet, Tagore: “Upon a turn, life will
be brightened. With hesitation, danger will approach.”
Implementing All-IP network transformation
Based on a thorough understanding of IP network
evolution and careful planning, Reliance has divided
its All-IP transformation into three steps: First, Core
network IP transformation that completely employs
the CDMA mobile softswitch. Second, Gradual access
network IP transformation that achieves unified 2G/3G
and fixed/mobile network access and the coexistence
Reliance has begun its voyage with its new All-IP business strategy.
In order to achieve large-scale commercialization and to rapidly
deploy a high quality and competitive All-IP network, several issues
must be considered in their interconnected entirety as: service,
core, data communication, transport and access networks.
of multiple access modes. Third, Smooth core network
evolution to IMS.
An All-IP network comprises four parts: multi-service
interface, multi-service bearer, switching, and a service
and application platform, all of which are IP-based.
The IP-based multi-service interface is designed
to achieve overall IP access modes to meet future
business development requirements. It features the
coexistence of multiple access modes to facilitate
Reliance’s integrated business operation model.
IP-based multi-service bearer network includes IP
transformation in the access layer and multi-service bearer
transformation in the core layer. The access layer employs
MSTP and IP mixed transmission to enable separate
voice signaling and normal data service transmission
without interference, thus greatly improving transmission
efficiency and reducing costs. The core layer utilizes
a carrier-class IP bearer network coupled with the IP-
oriented ASON flexible optical transport network to
improve the bearer network’s flexibility, reliability and
operability. The toll transport network applies IP-oriented
DWDM optical transmission technology.
IP-based switching describes the universal
deployment of the CDMA softswitch to transform
17 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
traditional TDM switching to IP softswitching in order
to conserve network bandwidth resources, achieve flat
network architecture, improve operational efficiency and
reduce OPEX. The core network softswitch platform
benefits from the capacity to smoothly evolve into IMS.
The IP-based service and application platform
provides richer IP multimedia services via the IP
mechanism and the application platform. This makes
it possible to provide different subscriber groups
with diversified and innovative services to enhance
user experience and improve customer loyalty.
Introducing a competitive partner
Reliance has begun its voyage with its new All-
IP business strategy. In order to achieve large-scale
commercialization and to rapidly deploy a high
quality and competitive All-IP network, several issues
must be considered in their interconnected entirety
as: service, core, data communication, transport
and access networks. This presents a considerably
challenging test for operators and suppliers in
the context of mastering and deploying multiple
technologies to realize a comprehensive, cohesive,
competitive and sustainable network.
With this in mind, Mr. Anil D. Ambani, the
President of Reliance did not underestimate the
importance of choosing suitable strategic partners. He
pointed out, “Reliance is committed to the development
of cutting-edge information and communication
services. We will focus upon long-term partnerships to
execute complicated, global scale projects and deploy
complete telecom solutions by means of an integrated
value chain. In India, Reliance will provide products and
unrivaled value that both individuals and enterprises can
afford and bring subscribers new experiences through

continued innovation. Our ambition expects our success
to become a global model.”
Given the enormous scale and highly complex nature
of Reliance’s original network, All-IP transformation
embodies an exacting, laborious and highly complex
project. Reliance is fully aware of the necessity for a
key strategic partner who can provide complete All-
IP end-to-end solutions. Prerequisites for such a
partner demand comprehensive knowledge, extensive
experience, a proven track record and mindset of
innovation in both the IP and CDMA fields.
Reliance’s comprehensive and detailed assessment
procedure resulted in the selection of Huawei as the
best partner to fulfill this role. Huawei’s demonstrably
outstanding track record left Reliance’s management
with no doubt that China’s largest telecommunications’
equipment supplier could help to accomplish the rapid
realization of its All-IP strategy and add immeasurable
value to its future business direction and goals.
On December 29, 2006, Reliance and Huawei
signed a CDMA network commercialization contract,
stipulating that Huawei will undertake 60% of the
CDMA network project. Significantly, this is also the first
time that Reliance has introduced a non-US manufacturer
into existing network construction. Recognizing Huawei
as a major global player, the two companies have thus set
in stone the origins of a long-term strategic cooperation
that has increasingly been consolidated.
At the beginning of May 2007, Reliance granted
its CDMA network expansion contract to Huawei.
Scheme specifics involve the construction of nearly
9,000 BTSs covering 40% of India’s landmass,
including districts such as UP East, UP West, Tamil
Nadu, Gujarat, MP, Orissa and Rajasthan.
On July 12, 2007, Reliance and Huawei officially
Huawei Technologies
signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement
that details a next generation integrated digital network
construction that integrates mobile and fixed lines,
supports voice, data and video, and covers over 600,000
villages and 20,000 towns.
In the future, the All-IP end-to-end broadband
network will provide wider, richer and far more convenient
modes for multimedia applications and broadband
digital communication. The developmental direction
will yield a more personalized, entertainment-oriented,
mobile and intelligent service model that will impact all
aspects of Indian life. In this way, the two partners seek to
realize a true broadband digital life for India.
Constructing a premium CDMA
All-IP network
Cost-effective network to reduce TCO
Reliance’s first step was to introduce the IP mobile
softswitch into the CDMA core network. Employing
Huawei’s mature and reliable CDMA IP mobile
softswitch system for rapid deployment, requirements
have been met for network construction against a
backdrop of rapidly increasing subscriber numbers.
The mobile softswitch system features large
capacity and a reduced number of offices. Its design
encapsulates a separate architecture to promote easy
upgrades and maintenance, and curtails both CAPEX
and OPEX. The mobile softswitch supports 2G/3G
network integration, facilitating seamless future
network evolution, and the IP-based open service
platform furthers service innovation capabilities and
expedites service launch time.
Reliance is utilizing Huawei’s new generation
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 18
 COVER STORY
Reliance sets full sail on its All-IP journey
CDMA2000 All-IP series BTSs and base station
controllers (BSCs). These BTSs and BSCs use a carrier-class
IP broadband universal platform and a modular design
that supports the IP-based interface. IP transformation
of equipment elevates security, reliability and network
expandability, and will help Reliance remarkably reduce
TCO. Upon design, the next generation IP base
station has undergone technological innovation based
on India’s operational network environment. Statistics
indicate that the number of BTSs is reduced by 50%,
given that each covers 1,000 square kilometers.
With the increasing number of BTSs, BTS
transmission accounts for over 90% of overall
transmission costs. Interfaces incur the greatest costs,
meaning that IP interface transformation is the key for
transmission cost reduction. IP transmission fully employs
Reliance’s existing IP network resources, thus saving 40
- 80% in mobile access network transmission expenses.
With Huawei’s patented enhancement technology, each
E1 link carries at least 240 speech channels without
affecting voice quality, far exceeding the industry average of
180, and increasing transmission efficiency by over 30%.
During cooperation with Reliance, Huawei has
drawn on its rich IP experience to suitably balance
network reliability and equipment costs. This has
been attained by an optimized deployment program
at point, line and surface levels that responds to the
network’s hierarchical structure and its relationship
with individual NE parameters. Points refer to NEs
and include equipment quantity and configuration;
lines describe NE connections; and surfaces form the
network’s topological structure.
Through the accurate calculation of multiple
scheme speech paths, links and data traffic as well as
comprehensive, multilevel verification using sophisticated
19 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
industry test tools, Reliance’s projected investment is
greatly decreased. Reliance’s project supervisor summed
up these outcomes and their implications, “From
equipment, solutions to project control, Huawei’s
new concept, end-to-end and cost-effective network
construction can provide a world model.”
Outstanding coverage to facilitate
sustainable development
Huawei’s new generation CDMA All-IP BTS - in
particular the widely deployed BTS 3606AC-R has been
customized to India’s complex topography, unrelenting
rainy reason, high temperatures and other negative
environmental conditions. It has also been adapted to
the nation’s current potentially detrimental factors that
include power failure and unstable supply, fire and theft.
The built-in battery can supply power for four hours and
its heat exchange technology saves power consumption
by 60%. The solution is favored by UP (West), UP (East)
and other secondary city regions.
Many locations in India are hampered by inadequate
site room, rough site conditions, and inconvenient
transportation. Huawei’s customized innovation
capabilities have supplied Reliance with large
capacity 4-carrier and 6-sector BTSs, specifically the
BTS3606C-R, which exceeds the BTS capacity offered
by other vendors by 2 or 3 times. This model also forms
the industry’s smallest compact macro base station, and
is not only optimized for easy transportation in terms
of volume, weight and vibration resistance, but is also
structurally simplified. Its cable connection design, for
example, demands less labor and can be quickly deployed.
To date and in addition to other densely populated areas,
this BTS model has been widely deployed in India’s
 Huawei Technologies

Gujarat and Tamil Nadu districts. Reliance’s

site rental, installation and maintenance costs
have been considerably reduced.
The new generation series BTSs are based
on a broadband IP platform that can be
smoothly evolved to UMB. Through location-
specific coverage, Reliance’s existing investment
is maximally protected, its diversified needs
are met, and future, sustainable network
development capabilities are fulfilled.
Moreover, the IP-based BSC features large
capacity, full integration, outstanding
performance, and carrier-class reliability.
Combined, they reduce network construction
costs and improve Reliance’s network security.
Reliance has constructed a manageable
carrier-class IP bearer network based on a ratified
service level agreement. This stipulates service
quality criteria and sets out relevant performance
metrics that also meet Reliance’s requirements
for “expandable capacity, identifiable
subscribers, differentiated service provision,
controllable quality and a manageable
network”. In turn, the design philosophy
fulfills both Huawei’s and Reliance’s mutual
and stated goals to successfully realize “a
network construction and secures its advantageous
position in the Indian CDMA market.
Reliance has inherited the professional
project management demands that underpin
the Indian nation and requires the overall
and highly effective control over time, cost,
quality and risk. To assist Reliance create a
high-quality CDMA network in a rapid and
cost-effective manner, Huawei has optimized
the supply chain processes of material
application, purchasing, packing and system
operation. Moreover, Huawei has established
a project assurance team with the remit to
effectively schedule projects, periodically
evaluate risk, and to facilitate a flexible and
adaptable response mechanism. This effectively
implements project, cost, quality assurance
and risk management in addition to rapid and
high-quality network deployment. Reliance is
able to rapidly deploy a high quality CDMA
network, thus seizing the opportunity for
growth in the Indian mobile market.
Reliance’s Logistics Director testifies
to this: Huawei is outstanding in terms of
delivery and, compared with other vendors,
has delivered greater quantity and quality in
Steering Indian telecom
market towards the world
Through the implementation of CDMA
All-IP transformation, Reliance has achieved a
rapid growth. Its share in the Indian CDMA
mobile communication area exceeds 60%,
and, with this overwhelming market share,
has steered the India CDMA industry to
grow at a remarkable pace that is resonating
throughout the world.
Currently, Reliance boasts over 36
million mobile subscribers, including nearly
1 million overseas customers, and occupies
in excess of 25% of the Indian mobile
market’s share, thus positioning Reliance as
the second largest telecom operator in India.
In terms of leading the Indian mobile
communication market amidst the fastest
growth rate and arguably the world’s fiercest
competition, Reliance’s success undoubtedly
represents a shining benchmark and a model
for the global CDMA industry.
Today, Reliance provides services for 600
Indian companies, 250 multinationals and

In the future, the All-IP E2E broadband network will provide

wider, richer and far more convenient modes for multimedia
applications and broadband digital communication. This will
yield a more personalized, entertainment-oriented, mobile and
intelligent service model that will impact all aspects of Indian life.

simplified network, marginalized services,
efficient structure, flexible traffic adjustment
and minimal failure impact.”
Rapid deployment to seize the
opportunity
Under the potentially crushing pressure
of fierce competition, Reliance has deployed
a preemptive strategy that implements rapid
a very short time. Under Huawei’s effective
coordination, Reliance has taken just four
months to complete the work that will take
other operators 4 years. Huawei provides
professional guidance for long-term network
evolution, enhancing Reliance’s future
confidence. Therefore, Reliance recognizes
Huawei’s ability and its choice as our partner
now and in the future.
cooperates with over 200 global operators.
The company operates the largest CDMA
All-IP next generation network in the world,
including an optical cable system exceeding
150,000km that covers India, US, Europe,
the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Led by All-IP, Reliance is steering Indian
telecom market towards the world.
Editor: Gao Xianrui sally@huawei.com

OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 20

 MAIN TOPIC
A robust soft heart
A robust soft heart
Say “No” to softswitch heart attack
T
he distributed structure of
softswitch, which features
separation of control from
t h e b e a r e r, m a k e s t h e
system processing capability
more accelerated and fluid, the network
architecture simpler, and therefore, the
availability of services quicker. Nowadays,
whether it is for a new network that needs
to be constructed or for an old network
that needs to be transformed, softswitch
has become the first choice among carriers.
However, with stronger processing
capability and greater equipment
capacity, softswitch will be called upon to
provide services to more subscribers than
traditional switch equipment, this also
means that a fault in the equipment will
21 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
By Li Anming
have a greater impact on the system, so the
potential risks in this regard have become
a matter of some concern to many people
in the industry.
Fortunately, since the deployment of
softswitch for commercial use has now
become a worldwide trend, it has acquired
masterly skills through numerous trials
and applications, and in the process has
gained much greater anti-disaster and risk-
resistant capabilities.
Full disaster-tolerant
core equipment
Tr a d i t i o n a l n e t w o r k e q u i p m e n t
does not possess a disaster-tolerant
mechanism, so whenever there is a fault
in the equipment, resulting in a network
breakdown, it usually takes a considerable
amount of time to locate the problem,
recover the services, and so on. Meanwhile,
customers’ satisfaction is lowered and
business revenue is reduced accordingly.
Un d e r t h e s o f t s w i t c h’s p r e s e n t
architecture, the traditional Mobile
Switching Center (MSC) becomes MSCe
(Mobile Switching Center emulation)
and MGW (Media Gateway). Huawei’s
CDMA softswitch, by means of providing
a full-disaster-tolerant solution, which
consists of a dual-home, Mini A-Flex,
Bypass, and Temp-Credit-Call, will not
only ensure a quick recovery of services
in the event that there is a fault in the
 Huawei Technologies

softswitch equipment, but also it will help to
minimize any service loss incurred during any fault
connected with the user’s Home Location Register
(HLR) and intelligent Service Control Point (SCP).
Dual-home: Disaster tolerance through
remote backup
In comparison with the traditional MSC, the
CDMA softswitch center (MSCe) features a larger
capacity, wider service scope, and more subscribers
served. So when a major disaster occurs such as a
natural calamity, man-made operational error, or
equipment failure, service interruption may occur
on a wider scale than with the traditional MSC,
therefore having a greater impact. However, dual-
home solution is capable of quickly restoring services
whenever a failure occurs with the MSCe.
Dual-home refers to a backup of MSCe that
is added or available for use by the softswitch as
a standby in the event that the active MSCe fails.
It can either be an MSCe that is backed up by a
standby MSCe, or multiple MSCe that is backed
up by a standby MSCe. It is usually referred to as
a 1+1 backup or N+1 backup. Normally, the active
MSCe manages the media gateway and processes
various kinds of signaling, but when the active
MSCe becomes unstable or experiences a fault of
some kind, then, the standby MSCe kicks in and
completely takes over the tasks of the active MSCe,
so as to ensure continuous flow of services for
subscribers.
Dual-home provides MSCe with a remote backup
disaster-tolerant capability, thus greatly improving
the reliability of the softswitch network and its
capability of dealing with any onslaught of natural
calamities. Moreover, the installation of dual-home
has no negative influence on the peripheral NEs
(network elements) and does not require any further
modification of the NEs. The handoff between
the active and standby MSCe can be completed
without being detected by the peripheral NEs, thus,
reducing the time duration of service interruption to
a maximum extent.
the city; hence, the former may become overloaded,
while the latter remains idle during a peak period,
without resources being shared among the MGWs.
In order to avoid service interruption due to any
fault connected with a MGW, and to guarantee
channel resource sharing among multiple MGWs
running under the same MSCe, the softswitch
system provides a Mini A-Flex solution. The Mini
A-Flex solution allows BSCs to be subordinated
to multiple MGWs, under the control of the
same MSCe, so that service management can be
performed in the mode of load sharing among
different MGWs. Hence, when one MGW becomes
unstable or encounters a failure of some kind, then
the BSCs subordinated to it can use other MGWs
connected to it, so that services can continue to
be provided. Meanwhile, the Mini A-Flex allows
optimization of channel resource allocation among
MGWs under the same MSCe, thus, saving the
transport and channel resources among MGWs
to the maximum extent. In brief, the Mini A-Flex
provides disaster tolerance to the bearer side of the
softswitch network, and also enhances the security of
the system. All these are quite simple to accomplish
in terms of implementation, and impose no
additional requirement on the peripheral NEs.
Bypass: Reducing disaster loss
HLR is the data center for mobile subscribers.
Under normal circumstances, when signaling links
between the softswitch and HLR break down for
some reason, service will no longer be provided
to subscribers in a local network, which usually
results in business loss and also lowers subscribers’
satisfaction level.
Bypass is capable of reducing business loss to a

Mini A-Flex: Channel resource sharing

Under the softswitch’s present architecture, one
BSC can be upwardly subordinated to one MGW
only. When the MGW encounters a failure, all the
BSCs subordinated to it will be unable to process
services. Furthermore, among different MGWs
under the same MSCe, there may be an imbalance in
terms of traffic. For example, one MGW may control
a portion of the downtown area, while another
MGW controls an area that is located at the edge of

OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 22

 MAIN TOPIC
A robust soft heart
minimum degree. When signaling links between the
softswitch and HLR break down, the Bypass service
can ensure connection of calls between subscribers
within the softswitch system, and when the signaling
links are recovered, it automatically recovers signaling
interaction with the HLR, thus, greatly reducing any
deleterious influence caused by the disaster.
Temp-Credit-Call: Ensuring calls between
intelligent network subscribers
In the mobile network, there are a great number
of intelligent network subscribers. Therefore, if the
signaling links between the softswitch and the service
control point (SCP) break down, calls between
intelligent network subscribers are no longer
possible.
Temp-Credit-Call, or Temporary-Credit-Call,
is capable of continuing calls between intelligent
network subscribers when the signaling links between
the softswitch and the SCP break down. When the
softswitch detects any kind of failure with the links
between it and the SCP, it will no longer perform
signaling interaction with the SCP, but instead, will
connect the call first, and then it will add a flag in
the bill when the call ends, thus, enabling the billing
system to charge by the flag, which helps to reduce
business loss.
In June 2007, Suntel, the second largest operator
of Sri Lanka, which currently has 300,000 CDMA
subscribers, recently used Huawei’s CDMA
softswitch to construct the first disaster-tolerant
commercial network in the world. During the initial
trial test and in commercial use, there has been zero
interruption of services, hence, ensuring high quality
of the network and laying a good foundation for
network operation.
Smoothing the traffic peak
The mobility of mobile subscribers, differences
in population densities among different areas, as
well as the different habits of people in terms of
making calls, all result in a great difference in the
flow of traffic among different areas and in different
time sections. This is especially the case during peak
traffic periods such as, during festivals or in the
holiday seasons, when the inordinately high load on
networks in high traffic areas causes instability in the
equipment and lowers the QoS, while the equipment
in low traffic areas is not fully utilized. The negative
impact that traffic peaks bring to bear on networks
usually results in a greater degree of redundancy
in terms of equipment capacity, hence, greater
investment costs. In order to conquer this difficulty,
23 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
Huawei’s CDMA softswitch offers an MSC Pool
solution.
MSC Pool is composed of multiple softswitch
systems. It is similar to dual-home in terms of
networking, the difference being that the softswitch
systems in the resource pool do not feature the
backup mode, but a load-share mode instead. All
the softswitch systems in the pool process services
simultaneously, and all pieces of equipment in the
pool share the load and the resources. They also
behave as an integrated softswitch externally. In other
words, an MSC Pool is a softswitch system of super-
large capacity, consisting of multiple softswitches.
In large cities, traffic on regular workdays
is usually concentrated in business areas, and
on holidays traffic is relatively concentrated in
residential areas and scenic spots. In traditional
networking, configuration must be performed
according to the highest traffic in each area, and a
certain amount of redundancy must be reserved at
that. However, in MSC Pool networking, subscriber
services will be evenly distributed in each softswitch
system in the resource pool for balancing traffic
peaks in different areas and different time sections.
No matter on workdays or during holiday seasons,
the traffic on switches in the pool is in balance by
and large. Therefore, an operator only needs to
make investment on equipment according to the
maximum traffic in an entire city, regardless of the
load of the maximum traffic in each area, thus,
optimizing network capacity and saving investment
costs on equipment.
In addition, MSC Pool also provides certain
functions of network disaster tolerance, as well as
improvement in the conversation quality. In the
event of a fault or failure with any single piece of
softswitch equipment in the pool, then the service
will be borne by other pieces of the softswitch
equipment, thereby fulfilling disaster tolerance.
When a mobile subscriber is roaming in the MSC
Pool area, he or she does not need to change the
service MSC. Therefore, in comparison with
traditional networking, MSC Pool reduces the times
of switchover between the signaling flow and the
offices, and it enhances the call quality as well.
Due to its masterly skills Huawei’s softswitch has
gradually won the recognition and trust of many
global mainstream operators, and has entered several
global markets on a large scale, including high-end
markets in Europe and America, as well as India
market. Huawei’s softswitch is now serving over 100
million subscribers worldwide, and the number of
its commercial networks has now reached 45, hence,
forming a trustworthy CDMA brand.
Editor: Xu Peng xupeng@huawei.com
 Huawei Technologies

CDMA networks lag far behind GSM networks

in terms of international roaming given the latter’s
existing wide global deployment. What are the factors
that have hindered CDMA international roaming
from progressing? What can be done to stimulate its
rapid deployment?

Speeding up CDMA
international roaming
By Wang Wei & Zeng Rong

OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 24

 MAIN TOPIC
Speeding up CDMA international roaming

The urgent call for Technological status quo

international roaming Inconsistent CDMA standards

R
apid global economic
growth is raising people’s
living standards and creating
closer economic ties between
c o u n t r i e s . O n e re s u l t o f
this is a greater demand for international
roaming services. Since GSM has already
been deployed on a large world-wide scale,
operators are not particularly concerned
with GSM international roaming. For
CDMA operators, however, international
roaming is still posing a range of challenges
for numerous reasons, many of which
revolve around the fundamental question
of whether the global CDMA industry can
be further developed.
With its origins in the USA, CDMA
was initially only designed to facilitate
roaming services domestically and in
neighboring countries. This has created
some persisting problems when seeking
to expand the service further afield. So far
the countries and regions where CDMA
technology has been adopted are mainly
North America, Asia and Africa. In 1999,
Asian operators finally agreed on bi-party
roaming between two countries, but no
multi-party roaming relationship was
established, so “real” international roaming
has not been achieved. Viewed from this
angle, the global CDMA network is still in
a state of separation.
An integral step in perfecting the
CDMA industry chain involves speeding
up the international CDMA roaming
mechanism based on a globally integrated
strategy. This requires cooperation and
joint efforts at various points in the chain,
including standardization organizations,
equipment vendors, third party service
providers (SPs) and operators.
Te c h n i c a l l y, s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n
organizations must continually ratify
standards. On this basis, equipment
vendors and third party SPs have to adapt
various signaling types and support multi-
band terminals. Operators should work
with different partners to finalize issues
such as roaming agreements, charging
strategies, private service processing modes,
network coverage and adding new services.
A number of operators have employed a
Operators should
work with different
partners to finalize
issues such as roaming
agreements, charging
strategies, private service
processing modes,
network coverage and
adding new services.
variety of means to realize interconnection
and interworking between countries. An
example includes the existing partnership
between China Unicom and Japan, Korea,
the USA and Australia. However, this
is still far from achieving the long-term
objective that describes interconnection
a n d i n t e r w o rk i n g c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
unrestricted by time, place or terminal.
It follows that all industry chain parties
should further consider solutions to tackle
the various technical and operational
problems.
CDMA technology standard is not
mandatory. Operators and equipment
vendors are free to decide whether to adopt
it, and which particular versions to employ.
The CDMA standard itself is subject to
continual revisions and improvements,
and different countries adopt different
versions because of different network
construction times and varied approaches
of operators and equipment vendors.
This has resulted in inconsistent CDMA
network agreements between countries.
For instance, China Unicom’s No.7
signaling standard is based on the ITU
standard, with no additional or discarded
functions despite some minor application
changes. The No.7 signaling standard
used in Europe and by China Unicom
is functionally identical and basically
belongs to the same system. However,
North America’s No.7 signaling standard
is different in that it adopts the ANSI
standard which differs from the ITU
standard in some ways, for example,
i n n u m b e r s e t t i n g . To i m p l e m e n t
international roaming for CDMA
subscribers, interworking between ANSI
and ITU signaling standards must be
realized. Currently, the international
signal transfer is basically realized through
Syniverse, a third party international
o p e r a t o r, a n d t h e r e i s n o d i r e c t
interconnection.
In terms of No.7 signaling adaptation,
Huawei’s experience and processing
capability allow a CDMA network to
run over both ANSI and ITU standards,
presenting flexible adaptability to satisfy
operators’ differing requirements.
Different frequencies
3GPP2 has defined 10 frequency
bands, and operators use different bands.
For example, the air interface in Korean
SKT ’s network uses 800 MHz, while
American Sprint PCS employs 1900 MHz
and Japanese KDDI IMT2000. Previously,
few subscribers required international
roaming, and operators only considered
local or domestic communications. At that
time, the cost of terminals that supported

25 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34


multiple bands was high, so many legacy
terminals do not accept other frequencies.
In order to facilitate international roaming,
therefore, operators must prepare multi-
band terminals.
In addition, CDMA terminal searches
are performed via Preferred Roaming List
(PRL) file frequencies which search for
usable networks, and this method forbids
illegal terminal access. This may lead to the
situation that legal subscribers cannot roam
due to operators’ frequency inconsistencies.
Based on multi-band terminal support,
Huawei utilizes Over-the-Air (OTA)
technology to automatically update legal
subscriber terminals to add multi-operator
frequency information and thus achieve
unrestricted international roaming.
Limited number resources
Numbering plans describe an important
feature within a communication system,
since each subscriber is identified by
a unique number. For international
roaming, each subscriber’s number must
be globally unique in order to guarantee
correct identification. However, AMPS, the
American analog communication system,
uses 10-digit MIN numbers to identify
roaming subscribers, and allocates most
of these to domestic subscribers, leaving
just a few for other countries. Additionally,
its design does not comply with IMSI
standards, rendering the numbers
internationally unusable. Taking the GSM
solution for reference, 3GPP2 is working
on standards to guide the conversion from
MIN into IMSI. The long-term perspective
defines that the CDMA system will
inevitably adopt 15-digit IMSI numbers.
Huawei currently supports both IMSI
and MIN, thus helping subscribers enjoy
mutual roaming possibilities between the
two systems.
Operational strategies
Aside from technical problems,
operational issues should be solved if
CDMA international roaming is to
be rapidly achieved between different
countries.
Selecting roaming partners
Operators must first draw up the
strategic deployment map from the
operational perspective. In terms of
targeting countries for international
roaming agreements, the analysis of
various market features is necessary, for
example, a given country’s economic and
trade ties and levels of tourism.
To reduce technical barriers, operators
who employ the same frequency, standards
and operate in the same geographic
regions should be chosen as preferred
roaming partners. Interconnection and
interworking between countries and
regions can therefore take place step by
step. Thanks to this operational strategy,
Africa provides an example of increasing
and successful international roaming
deployment.
Currently, Huawei has offered a creative
CDMA international roaming plan,
assisting the African countries deploy
international roaming services and thus
consolidate the competitive strengths of
local CDMA operators. CDMA network
interconnection and interworking will be
shortly realized in a number of countries
including Nigeria, Cameroon, Namibia,
Huawei Technologies
Rwanda and Mauritius.
Settlement of call charges
Charging mechanisms form an
indispensable par t of international
roaming strategy that cannot be ignored.
Pressed by the need for profits, most
operators would rather postpone roaming
service inception because of the absence
of a complete billing and settling system.
Further complicating the settlement issue
is the question of mutual trust among
operators. Whether or not roaming is set
to become a normal service may depend
upon different operators’ ability to agree
upon a mutually satisfactory call charging
settlement system.
A feasible method so far is third-party
settlement. In North America, the large
number of operators means that two
parties will not usually settle directly, but
instead submit bills to a clearing house
acknowledged by both. Different methods
can also be employed in order to more
swiftly deploy services depending on
specific network conditions.
Moreover, charging systems involve the
pre- and post-paid modes. If a roaming
agreement is finalized under relevant
roaming conditions, post-paid subscriber
roaming will not be difficult to regulate
and achieve. In emerging markets, however,
the pre-paid mode prevails more than
90% of the time. As far as operators are
concerned, pre-paid international roaming
demonstrates incomparable advantage, most
notably because it avoids late and non-
payments. Huawei’s innovative pre-paid
solution will ably facilitate international
roaming for pre-paid subscribers.
Editor: Xue Hua xuehua@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 26
 MAIN TOPIC
Enhancing competitiveness via All-IP BTS
Enhancing competitiveness via All-IP BTS
For CDMA mobile operators, the investment on BTS takes up at least 60% of the total operation costs, which
is of the highest percentage. In a market with increasing competition, how can BTSs be improved through
innovation in order to lower TCO and enhance competitiveness?
I
ncreasingly fierce competition in the
communications’ market has resulted in lower
tariffs and a subsequent decrease in average revenue
per user (ARPU). This situation is exacerbated by
Internet voice services, which continue to attract
a greater number of original subscribers from operators.
Trapped in such a situation, a major concern for operators
is how to survive and grow with low ARPU. The only way
out is to reduce operation costs and improve operation
competitiveness.
BTSs are of the biggest quantity among all equipment
in the CDMA network. Therefore, Huawei believes
continuous innovation on BTSs is worthwhile in the aspect
of helping operators greatly reduce TCO.
Next generation CDMA2000 All-
IP BTS
Based on thorough knowledge of the telecom market
and research into low-cost operational requirements,
Huawei recently released its next generation CDMA2000
All-IP BTS series. Tailored to cater for different application
scenarios and demands of operators, and continuously
improved through innovation, these BTSs are designed to
help operators reduce TCO and increase competitiveness.
Enriching BTS series to reduce networking cost
Choosing the right BTS according to the actual
situation is the key to reducing the operation costs. For
example, in a densely populated area, BTSs with large
capacity can be used to reduce the number of BTSs and
networking costs; while in sparsely populated area, BTSs
with small capacity and large coverage can be used to
save costs on devices, installation, and maintenance.
Huawei has released various series of BTSs to meet
the requirements in various actual practices. Each
type of BTS has its own features that fit into different
scenarios. For example, BTS3606E (for indoor type)
27 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
By Wang Wei & Lei Yanping
and BTS3606AE (for outdoor type) are of high
integration and with up to 12 carrier capacity, which are
designed for large and medium cities. BTS3606C (for
indoor type) and BTS3606AC (for outdoor type) are
of low consumption and compact design, which is ideal
for the low and medium capacity areas. The mini-BTSs,
radio frequency unit (RFU) that is extended with feeder,
and the distributed BBU+RRU solution can be used for
rural and remote areas.
In addition, Huawei plans to release three star solutions
BTS Hotel, iDBS, and Femto-Cell in the near future,
which can satisfactorily meet the special requirements on
the coverage of downtown and indoor areas, and on the
wireless data access for families.
The complete series of CDMA BTSs, and relevant
solutions cater for specific requirements in various scenarios,
thus helping operators enhance the coverage of CDMA
network and lowering the TCO to a great extent.
Improving output power to reduce the
number of BTSs
When the BTS capacity reaches its maximum value,
each carrier sector can ensure 20W output power on the top
of cabinet. The maximum output power in the industry,
however, usually can reach 20W only on the amplifier,
but the power will have1.5-3dB attenuation on the top of
cabinet. Thus, for the same traffic in a sector, a Huawei BTS
covers 34% more area than a 10W BTS does given the same
call model. Therefore, the number of BTSs can be reduced
by 30% in rural areas and countryside. Meanwhile, high
transmitter power can support higher sector load in cities,
helping operators to support more subscribers.
Enhancing integration to reduce equipment
room rental
The BTS3606E is designed to cover densely
populated areas and features high capacity, integration
and reliability, coupled with low power consumption.

Each cabinet can support 36 sectors
while occupying an area of just 0.39 m2.
Compared with traditional large capacity
but huge macro BTSs, the BTS3606E is
not only more functionally powerful, but its
compact size can realize significant savings
in equipment room rental.
The BTS3606C is designed to cover areas
characterized by low traffic. A single cabinet
can support 9 sectors and has even lower
space requirements than the BTS3606E
given it is 0.7m high and occupies a 0.29 m2
area. Moreover, it weighs less than 85kg, and
can be mounted on another cabinet, thus
maximizing space savings.
Adopting IP-based transmission
to reduce transmission cost
Huawei’s All-IP BTS series adopts a
carrier-class broadband platform, and its
Abis interface supports IP over E1 and IP
over FE. The transmission lines can not
only respond to traditional time division
multiplex (TDM), synchronous digital
hierarchy (SDH), microwave and satellite
systems, but also employ future-oriented
IP data networks and meanwhile support
E1+FE mixed transmission. These BTSs both
afford a rich range of transmission resource
options for operators and also help to reduce
transmission costs.
Designed using Huawei’s patented and
enhanced technologies, each of the CDMA
BTSs can improve transmission efficiency by
30% and support at least 240 voice channels
on an E1 link, far exceeding the industry
average of 180. In fact, a test organized by
a local Indian operator demonstrated that
Huawei’s CDMA BTS series supported 253
voice channels on each E1 link.
Adopting innovative power amplifier
to reduce power consumption
Huawei’s All-IP BTS series adopts DPD
and Doherty power amplification technologies
that enable 33% power amplification
efficiency, which decreases each BTS’s power
consumption by between 48% and 58%.
These improvements generate less heat in the
BTS, and further lower power consumption
by reducing the necessity for equipment room
air conditioning. This item alone, if calculated
by 100 BTSs, can save nearly US$280,000 of
electricity fees (suppose it’s US$0.3 per degree)
each year for the operators.
Introducing user-friendly design
to curtail maintenance cost
The introduction of multiple BTS models
necessitates increasingly larger operation
support teams, with more stringent
expectations on maintenance personnel.
To relieve the maintenance pressure, the
BTS series applies a user-friendly design via
consistent software and hardware platforms
including macro BTSs (BTS3606E/AE,
BTS3606C/AC), which share a uniform
baseband. All spare cards are in common
use, and benefit from a consistent software
version and maintenance interface. Therefore,
operation and maintenance personnel
familiar with the maintenance of only one
BTS type are fully capable of maintaining
Huawei’s all CDMA BTSs.
Huawei has also proposed the Network
Care concept for daily maintenance, and
released an intelligent tool-aided maintenance
and service system that holistically integrates
road test, network planning, optimization
mechanisms, performance monitoring and
management functions. Huawei partners
with operators to construct a network quality
guarantee system, and can provide forecasts
regarding user development and business
operations in order to establish a solid
foundation for cohesive network development.
Adopting creative architecture to
guarantee future smooth evolution
The All-IP network trend enables
operators to provide richer services with
lower TCO. Huawei’s BTS series adopts
modular design and is based on the
advanced All-IP platform. Powerful data
service processing capabilities and high
equipment reliability are guaranteed.
After the operator deploys CDMA2000
1xEV-DO Rev.A, the BTSs can provide
VoIP, video telephony and mobile broadband
access services. Meanwhile, smooth future-
oriented evolution is guaranteed by
introducing ultra mobile broadband (UMB)
technology to the design.
Serving operators
worldwide
To date, the CDMA2000 All-IP BTS
series has been widely used throughout
the world, allowing operators to rapidly
Huawei Technologies
deploy services, significantly reduce TCO
and raise competitiveness.
Leap Wireless: reducing TCO by 30%
In 2006, the American mobile service
provider, Leap Wireless, selected Huawei’s
CDMA2000 1X and EV-DO Rev. A solutions
to deploy wireless services in the Greater
Chicago area, Washington State, Idaho and
Nevada. By employing Huawei’s BTS3606E/
3606AE next generation BTSs, Leap Wireless
has reduced TCO by 30%. The BTSs meet
the requirements for high performance,
reliability and capacity, and guarantee
reliable applications in dense urban and
residential areas.
Glenn Umetsu, Executive Vice President
and Chief Technical Officer of Leap, offered
the following comments: “Leap is dedicated
to meeting our subscribers’ increasing
communications requirements. We selected
Huawei as a strategic partner based on
their successful technical certification in
our network, their outstanding product
roadmap, and our common focus on
quality and cost leadership.”
Tata Indicom: Doubled capacity
with amazing cost savings
In 2007, one of India’s leading telecom
operators, Tata Indicom, chose Huawei’s
CDMA2000 All-IP BTS series to replace
their existing networks in Delhi and
Kolkatta. The BTSs are connected using IP
over STM-1 and IP over E1 networking.
As a result, network capacity has doubled
and now caters for 1 million subscribers,
transmission resource usage is 50% down,
and power consumption has been reduced
by 40%.
From the broiling deserts of the Middle
East to the freezing snowfields in Siberia
and from the tropical rain forests of South
America to the roof of the world in Tibet,
Huawei’s CDMA2000 All-IP BTS series
has been deployed in CDMA networks
across the globe, and are notable for their
outstanding tolerance to various, extreme
environments. They have been assisting
CDMA operators achieve greater success
and have yielded a strong contribution
to subscribers’ communications and daily
lives.
Editor: Liu Zhonglin liuzhonglin@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 28
 HOW TO OPERATE
Romania Zapp embraces CDMA
A 3G story that makes sense
Romania Zapp embraces CDMA
Zapp embarked on the CDMA 2000 journey as early as in late 2001 when it launched commercially the world’s first
CDMA450 network. In less than six years, Zapp has obtained a subscriber base of over 500 thousand, making it the
biggest CDMA operator in Romania.
T
he telecommunications
market is quite robust in
Romania. Mobile phone
penetration is ranging above
80% these days. Fixed lines
are going down, which is quite common
worldwide. What is interesting to notice here
is that fixed line penetration is even below
20% in 2006, which gives Zapp tremendous
opportunity to take additional niches.
Strategy and key factors
to success
Zapp’s history started back in 2001
when we were licensed to use 450MHz
spectrum. We launched commercially
the world’s first CDMA450 network in
December 2001. Within two-and-half
years, we achieved the EBITDA breakeven,
which was quite remarkable and surprising
given that we hadn’t expected to make
such a good business with just two kinds
of terminals.
The launch of EV-DO Rev.0 450MHz in
2004 was the second one in the world. Later
in early 2006, we deployed WLL services in
our network. Then in 2006, we successfully
acquired the 2100MHz spectrum, the
fourth 3G license in Romania. In 2007 we
hope to successfully launch the first EV-DO
Rev. A network in 450MHz /2100MHz
dual-band environment.
29 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
By Victor Stan, Vice President and CTO of Telemobil S.A.
The customer base evolution of Zapp
is quite linear so far. We have over 500
thousand subscribers today. They are 100%
post-paid customer base. We are proud of
the market share we achieved in the post-
paid market. As the 4th entrant into the
market, competing with the multinational
GSM operators such as Vodafone, Orange
and Cosmote, Zapp managed to succeed
thanks to its technology choice, spectrum
choice and the strategy choice.
Technology choice
As far as technology choice is concerned,
frankly speaking, CDMA 2000 was the
only choice we had, as it was the only 3G
technology that fit for 450MHz spectrum,
thanks to its 1.25 MHz allocation. No
other 3G technology at that time could
do the same and basically we are happy to
have chosen this technology because it has
extremely high capacity in both voice and
high speed data offerings with intensive
traffic profiles. Also, it offers multi-band
support and smart interoperability with
Bluetooth and WiFi devices to enable
innovative mobile applications.
Spectrum choice
From the spectrum perspective, 450MHz
spectrum enables large and cost-effective
coverage whereas 2100MHz is just a
foundation for high capacity in metropolitan
and urban areas. With our licenses we have
the freedom to basically put this capacity
plant when and where it’s needed. That
would be transparent for end users, and
users will not see or perceive any difference
between rural on-the-road and urban
services. They will always perceive that metro
offers continuous 3G services countrywide,
but in fact, they will just jump from one
mode network to dual-band layer in the
course of voice or data communications.
Strategy choice
The strategy choice we made was a
convergent strategy. We never look at
450MHz and 2100 MHz spectrum
allocation plus CDMA 2000 as good enough
ingredients to go mobile. Without the
convergent approach the operators can’t
see much hope to improve ARPU or make
money in the future. Therefore we try to look
at the future telecom as the “convergence
future”, a mixture of voice and data, urban
and rural, and mobile and fixed, which
altogether enable us to cross-sell our products
based on different synergies on the market.
The synergies don’t necessarily mean more
money but they are definitely increasing
loyalty and making operators invest less in the
retention and focus on the growth.
At the service instance level, we adopt
a divergent positioning, which is an
untypical approach compared to typical 3G

application and solution perceived today in
the market. What we are trying to specialize
in is end user terminals. The terminal choice
is not one or two terminals anymore. There
are thousands of terminals ranging from
mobile to fixed and broadband modems.
None of them is like a typical 3G terminal
combining MTS, GSM, Bluetooth and
WiFi altogether. They are quite specialized
for the function they are mainly used for.
We believe that by splitting several types
of terminal, we can minimize the handset
subsidy, improve the reliability of the service,
and therefore enhance our profitability and
increase the customer satisfaction.
On the data side there aren’t many
business models established yet. So we have
the luxury to experiment various plans and
various fees perception by the market. We
have seen that basically only the flat-fee,
perceived down-limited tariff plan really
flies. In fact this practice should be well-
known by the DSL business so far. In all
countries, you can immediately pick the
differentiator in DSL offering, and get flat-
fee unlimited good packages. We believe
that if we, as wireless operators, have enough
coverage capacity to support that, that’s
the key to enable 3G applications moving,
portable and so forth.
On the market side, we are facing a
very stiff competition from GSM which a
mobile voice market forces us to stay quite
squeezed in the middle segment of SME/
SOHO. It isn’t sufficient for the long run.
We need to conquer the market segments
like the corporate and consumer segments.
We have several milestones also to be
achieved before doing this successfully.
One of them is to achieve complete
and full nationwide coverage of 450MHz
network which is not completely done yet, as
GSM 900 is still better than us. 2100MHz
network enables us to launch several
attractive products like flat-fee voice and flat-
fee data services. New terminals appear in
the market, and the pressure for the lower
pricing of terminals keeps increasing. Many
people think that 3G just gives access to
Internet and Internet has an infinite range
of applications. We need to bring them
more new mobile data features and
applications, such as Brew, My
Casting, VoIP and multimedia
content. Prepaid services
introduction is one of the most important
milestones for us. We failed to do that so
far because we missed the right price and
the right prerequisite for prepaid terminals
as we can’t just put money on the street and
subsidize terminals to compete against GSM,
and to match their pricing on the terminals.
Regarding services convergence, Zapp plans
to put equal weighting on voice and data
which are both mobile and fixed and on the
wireless local loop voice and data services.
Network performance
and usage profiles
Superior network to GSM
For the mobile service coverage, the
network consists of 520 base stations covering
over 180,000 square km of outdoor level of
service, over 17,000 km of roads for in-car
level of service, and over 1,500 localities for
the indoor level of mobile service. In contrast,
the same network utilizing the WLL terminal
covers much more. It covers 10,000 localities
for indoor level of service. All of these are
with the same network, but just different
types of usage and terminal capability.
The reliability of the network is
quite high. It records 99.9% on traffic,
geographical and time wise. It is built in a
very strong architecture with protective link,
5 switches spread evenly in the country. Key
performance indexes indicate that call success
rate (98.57%), drop call rate (0.59%) are
better than GSM networks. However, from
the coverage perspective we still have some
work to do even in the 450MHz network.
Faster network, less traffic pressure
We have also done experiments analyzing
customer usage profiles. The
following is a translation
based on our own
measurement
Huawei Technologies
experiment on our quite large number
of customers based in Romania. The
experiments use a sample customer base of
about 10,000 subscribers who are exposed
to this kind of experiment for 6 months,
which means it is quite reliable information.
We tr y to keep the experience quite
constant, making sure the average data
speed of the 1X network and DO are quite
consistent. We have seen that if you try to
sell unlimited voice services based on flat-
fee you might end up with 450-500 MOU
a month, but with not extremely high
pressure on BH, not more than 25mErl at
busy hours. If you attempt to sell data with
different caps, volume or time, you end
up with 300 MOU & 40 MB which are
quite low figures. However if you switch
to unlimited plan with the same customer,
giving a chance basically to pay the same
fee but the use is unlimited, the numbers
multiply to 5600 MOU & 800 MB in the
1X network. That explains for the huge
usage which ends up almost 1GB MOU a
month. The network is being heavily used
and being quite slow as 1X data is not of
broadband network category.
On the broadband data side we don’t see
the same evolution. We only see the 3 times
multiplication of the traffic profile once
you move from cap tariff plan to uncap and
complete unlimited flat-fee, an evolution
of almost 2000 MOU to 5000 MOU,
from 600 MB a month to 2 GB a month.
That means the faster the data network
the less they expose the operators to being
congested or blocked or jeopardizing the
end users experience. Especially because end
users don’t use the network for their own
pleasures just
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 30
 HOW TO OPERATE
Romania Zapp embraces CDMA

to keep them busy, but to get something during 2006 and we divided the market
from it. And if they get something faster, share between games utilities, informational
they will use the network less. Therefore tools and communication tools. However,
the pressure during busy hours will not be because of poor market penetration, the
proportionally high like on 1X side. Brew-enabled terminals are not cash cow for
us yet. However it’s a strategic investment
450MHz/2100MHz rollout and we bet on it for enabling future mobile

roadmap
data application which in time they generate
more royalty and increase ARPU.
On the fixed solution, everyone is familiar
First, I will explain basically the limitation
with WiFi. In Romania what we have done
of 450MHz spectrum as unique spectrum
is to do WiFi mobile with the help of EV-
allocation. The three cases of which we were
DO, basically backhauling WiFi with EV-
licensed in Romania couldn’t accommodate
DO using this solution to power hundreds
any further the broadband growth in
of taxis, cabins, buses, trains, so people
Romania. One single carrier available
traveling in Romania with a cab and in other
for DO is by far insufficient to grow
major cities should not be surprised to have
cost-effectively the capacity of 450MHz
WiFi coverage with full broadband. This is
network. So we chose the multi-band
Victor Stan, cost-effective by just combining WiFi with
environment with more abundant carrier Vice President and CTO of Telemobil S.A. EV-DO modem sitting somewhere in the
allocation. We’ve got 15MHz spectrum in
car. With such a solution we also improve
2100MHz, which is able to accommodate
“As the 4th entrant into the our brand awareness. So Zapp is the largest
up to 12 additional CDMA 2000 carriers.
market, Zapp managed to perceived WiFi operator in Romania but
Hopefully we won’t ever use them all. But
only with the help of EV-DO backhauling.
that would still allow us an option to mitigate succeed thanks to its technology We have more than 250 hotspots working
one of our worst shortages in 450MHz. With
choice, spectrum choice and the now.
UMTS we would be allowed to put network
strategy choice.” For the laptop and desktop users, when
just to capture some inbound traffic roaming
we launched in 2001, we also launched
for in-visitors. We also build up to offer
our own portal, trying to bundle all sorts
plastic roaming solution to our customers
data solution. So we don’t want to see of contents available for the end users.
roaming abroad using both voice and data
our competitors come from behind and And with EV-DO introduction we move
network overseas, UMTS and GSM network
step over our dead bodies. 2100MHz this to a new level with multimedia
worldwide but especially in Europe.
will enable us to evolve mostly towards support. Everyone is talking about mobile
So 2100MHz spectrum has this benefit
Rev. B and Rev. C. Ultimately we plan to TV, mobile video, mobile personal video
also for us with the help of infrastructure
do this rollout to offer similar seamless recorder, mobile file access system and
vendors. Huawei has been very supportive to
3G services available everywhere even stuff like that. But very few people realize
this side. We can count now on dual-band
in rural environment serving both voice that this could be done free of charge
base stations. They are very good. Dual-
and data needs with no divide between with only exception being flat-fee 3G
band modem is focusing on EV-DO Rev. A
urban and rural areas. All of these are player. I have a Rev. A modem in Romania
dual-band. We are putting all the pieces and
with the same terminal, with the same connected to my home computer so I can
puzzles, and all the ingredients requirements
network, not basically using multi-layer watch all channel services with my satellite
for the successful rollout. Ultimately if we
sandwich network as GSM/UMTS. We box at my home plus all the movies,
look in the future on the roadmap of the
are complementing the next few years music collection, photo collection at my
technologies, EV-DO was the king for
the complete coverage of 450MHz and finger tip all over the world, basically with
the past years of the broadband data side.
adding gradually the capacity requirement broadband connectivity which doesn’t
Currently with the evolution of DBA, it
for 2100MHz. We’ll be an island capacity need to be EV-DO by the way. With EV-
might suffer a drawback if the operators
plumbing scenario on top of coverage layer DO we can support the fixed connectivity
don’t have enough spectrums to go further
provided by 450MHz network. requirement for the local computers in the
with Rev. A, Rev. B, Rev. C, UMB and
office or at home. Also with EV-DO we
other technology evolution scenarios.
Abundant applications
can support the displaying of multimedia
As 450MHz operator, we need to
content. Such applications are those that
escape from the trap of being left behind
possibly will take off in the future powered
of the peak data rate offering. Especially On the application side, Zapp Brew
by free softer solutions. That’s a good thing
when we are in Romania, we conquer the application was implemented in Romania
for the users.
market share and we are committed to back to 2004. Since then, we achieved a
maintaining that as a leader in wireless growth up to like quarter million downloads Editor: Xue Hua xuehua@huawei.com

31 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34

 Huawei Technologies

PerformA
Your versatile assistant in wireless
network operation and maintenance
Operation and maintenance personnel tend to voice the same complaints
regarding restricted profit growth: “Our network is continually increasing
in size, but our profits are not much more than they were before. Over
90% of network resources are occupied by nonprofit services. If network
management was service-related, we could easily increase profits by 5%.”

By Lv Jingna

OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 32

 HOW TO OPERATE
PerformA: your versatile assistant in wireless network operation and maintenance
KPI vs QoE
W
hen selecting a
network, the primary
concern of end users
- especially high-end
and group users -
centers on network quality. Operators share
this perspective given the direct impact
QoS (Quality of Service) has on income
and brand recognition. A network’s overall
performance and development potential
f o r m s a b a s i c p re m i s e f o r r a t i f y i n g
sustainable operation and maintenance
strategies.
Traditional network performance
enhancement solutions are oriented to
KPIs (key performance indices). These
cover system-level indices such as call
completion and drop rates, although
subscribers actually tend to perceive QoE
(Quality of Experience) when assessing
overall quality. KPIs and QoE data may as
such yield different results.
Moreover, traditional networks’ four
performance functional modules work
independently of each other, specifically:
performance monitoring, problem
location, operation decision-making and
technical support. This inhibits forecasting
capability, reduces integration, and lowers
optimization efficiency. Furthermore, the
subsequent rise in OPEX, CAPEX and
maintenance costs reduces capital return.
The traditional solution lacks
guidance parameters in terms of network
construction, operations and number
allocation. Operators do not know when,
33 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
where, why or how to expand network
capacity, or what the subsequent expansion
effects will be. The lack of a holistic plan
prior to number allocation, for example,
led one operator to greatly congest its
network with data services, resulting in a
reduced QoE, huge numbers of complaints
and reduced income.
This raises a number of questions
in relation to an NGN performance
enhancement solution: In what ways
can QoE be improved? Can a network’s
present status be understood and therefore
future development trends predicted? How
can OPEX be lowered and operation and
maintenance efficiency enhanced?
New ideas in operation
and maintenance
To solve these issues, Huawei launched
its complete network performance
enhancement solution - PerformA -
after four years’ R&D. Integrating its
rich network performance optimization
experience, a customer driven ethos,
and the ability to predict service trends,
PerformA represents Huawei’s nascent but
mature concepts and methods concerning
effective network maintenance.
Customer driven: Subscriber-based
optimization and individual performance
monitoring analyzes problems from the
perspective of users and thus seeks to
enhance QoE. Moreover, service prediction
originates from transforming traditional
reactive response mechanisms into a
proactive search for a network’s hidden
troubles via coverage and capacity analysis.
This model preempts problems before
they arise in order to avoid customer
complaints and ensure sustainable network
service provision.
Road test wholly: Subscriber derived
voice/data service information is fully
employed to accurately and holistically
assess network performance, including
coverage and adjacent cell optimization,
according to Pilot Strength Measurement
Message (PSMM) data. This method
encourages service innovation and develops
networks based on subscribers’ QoE.
It pushes wireless networks to embrace
zero complaint times, simplifies network
maintenance and lowers costs.
One-click report: Network administrators
are provided with reports customized by
layer and level. The reporting function
enables operators to comprehensively
understand network conditions, facilitate a
network quality monitoring mechanism via
daily/weekly/monthly reports that ascertain
and relate network health status.
PerformA: Your versatile
assistant
PerformA supports interconnection and
mutual support among the four functional
modules: per formance monitoring,
problem location, operation decision-
making and technical support. Based
on its inherent features and advantages,
PerformA is proven to be a versatile
assistant of wireless network operation and
maintenance.
PerformA represents
Huawei’s nascent but
mature concepts and
methods concerning
effective network
maintenance.

Performance monitoring
This platform analyzes data in relation
to QoS and undertakes quality monitoring
from the network layer to the subscriber
layer. PerformA is capable of automatic
data collection, import, analysis, and
function-based report production. These
reports allow the management to quickly
assess network performance and to appraise
and compare different networks. Engineers
in turn can efficiently locate network
problems and ensure entire network
optimization.
In 2006, the Bangladeshi operator
PBTL utilized PerformA tools to monitor
network performance. An analysis of call
completion and drop rates and other KPIs
revealed congested areas and points of
weak coverage. Remedial measures were
implemented, and network quality rapidly
improved.
Customer complaints handling
Customer complaints handling is
conventionally to trace the customer to
locate the problem. However, this method
does not record problem details as they
occur and therefore takes too much time.
PerformA deploys a call history record (CHR)
function that allows staff to find the record
of the call - providing its time is known -
and generates a problem location report.
Completed automatically by PerformA, this
process takes around 15 minutes only.
Automatic adjacent cell
optimization
Statistics show that 60% of dropped
calls are caused by a missing element or
by an error in adjacent cell configuration.
Traditional adjacent cell optimization
in a medium-sized city usually takes
four weeks. PerformA greatly reduces
this time by implementing real-time
monitoring in terms of adjacent cell
configuration, geographical rendering,
priority adjustments and automatic script
generation. For instance, Bangladeshi
PBTL deployed PerformA and completed
adjacent cell optimization involving 3.5
million domestic lines in just four hours.
Real-time interference
troubleshooting
Traditional interference troubleshooting
requires a site visit from an operation and
maintenance engineer. An interference
tester is then used to locate the problem
by recording interfering cells’ signal
strengths. The method wastes manpower
and material resources. PerformA, on the
other hand, allows remote and real-time
spectrum signal collection as received by
BTS antennas, and plays back collected
data through forward and reverse channels.
This reveals the presence, location and
source of interference via the multi-sector
location mode.
VIP customer focus
High VIP user QoE must be guaranteed
during network operations. PerformA
provides a complete and flawless VIP
monitoring and management system
that differentiates and sets performance
indices for various user groups according
to peak hour traffic size. PerformA can
automatically locate VIP user groups, and
any anomalies will automatically generate
a report that is sent to the mailbox of the
operation and maintenance staff.
Instant revenue benefits
Currently, PerformA is widely used in
many countries to assist operators monitor
and solve problems with their wireless
networks within a competitive timeframe,
which instantly increase their revenue.
PerformA demonstrates the following
advantages:
Higher network quality
PerformA features complete remote
network monitoring, forecasts network
coverage and trends, locates and solves
more than 80% of network faults
without field tests, and resolves the
majority of hidden problems before they
are exposed. PerformA’s performance
monitoring function is oriented to key
services, network areas and VIP users
to ensure high QoS and QoE. Network
optimization using PerformA, increased
PBTL’s coverage rate from 81.76% to
90.78% and reduced its call drop rate
from 2% to 0.5%. Customer satisfaction
and loyalty were greatly elevated, and the
number of subscribers quickly grew from
Huawei Technologies
a pre-optimization figure of 3 million to
8 million just six months after network
optimization.
More time-saving
Normally, at least 10 engineers are needed
each day to complete the complex analysis
and optimization of a wireless network
in a medium-sized city. In comparison,
PerformA releases more than 50% network
resources required for this task. Previously,
common faults, such as an adjacent cell list
error, would take at least one day to handle.
PerformA requires only two hours, which
realizes a 70% time saving.
More efficient investment
Any network construction decision-
making error lessens profits. Construction
that takes place too soon will waste
investment, whereas delayed construction
will lose subscribers and lower brand
equity. PerformA pinpoints the optimum
network construction time by analyzing
coverage and traffic loads to identify
network bottlenecks, and thus recommend
additional BTS construction.
PerformA can help define weak coverage
and high-traffic areas, and provides
detailed information of any specified area
in order to determine where and how
new BTSs be constructed. PerformA
can forecast network services and load
tendencies, realizing future network
development preparation tasks. Thus,
efficiency in terms of decision-making and
investment strategies for site construction
are greatly enhanced.
To date, PerformA has been successfully
applied by a number of global operators,
including America’s Leap and India’s
TATA. With PerformA, it took just eight
hours to complete the optimization of
adjacent cells and parameters in Tibet,
the so-called “the roof of the world”, the
terrain of which poses a severe challenge
for constructing a high-quality network.
Additionally with test and interference
troubleshooting, PerformA has successfully
helped China Telecom Tibet to complete
optimizing its CDMA 450 MHz network,
which has greatly benefited the network
quality and lowered call drop rate from
3% to 1%.
Editor: Xu Peng xupeng@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 34
 HOW TO OPERATE
Choice for global rural communications

Choice
for global rural
Communications
By Liu Zhixiong, Global Rural Communication Forum

35 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34

 Huawei Technologies

T
he 450M Wireless Access Phone (450M WAP) has enjoyed a rapid rise
in the world’s vast but thinly populated rural areas ever since its market
inception. This is attributable to its inherent advantages such as low
cost, wide coverage, powerful diffraction performance and compatibility
with NGN networks. These features have led the solution to contribute
significantly to the promotion of global universal communications services.
By May 2007, subscribers to 450M WAP reached nearly 20 million globally,
over 10 million of whom are located in mainland China’s rural areas. There are
currently 22 worldwide manufacturers operating in the 450M WAP industry
chain, and 60 new 450M wireless access terminals are available. In particular,
Huawei’s 450M wireless access solution has been accepted and commercially
deployed by 51 global operators. Through the study and analyses of existing
global commercial application, Global Rural Communication Forum holds that
the 450M wireless access solution will afford operators a number of benefits.

Saving investment costs

China Telecom: the 450M wireless access solution helps to save a
staggering RMB12 billion in investment, compared with cabled access
deployment.

The present market price of 200 pairs of copper cables with a 0.4mm core
diameter has increased from just under RMB20,000 per km to RMB40,000
per km, and this figure is still rising on the international market. Statistics
demonstrate that China Telecom’s service revenue increased by RMB8.7 billion
in 2006, of which more than RMB700 million - or just over 8% - is derived
from rural-based 450M wireless networks. The shift from DSL to wireless
access saved the equivalent use of 300,000km of 200 copper cable pairs,
and thus 200 million kilograms of copper. In comparison with traditional
access methods that utilize poles and copper cables, the 450M WAP curtailed
investment by an average of RMB1,000 per line, totaling RMB12 billion.
Situated in the roof of the world, China Telecom’s Tibetan branch, Tibet
Telecom, has enjoyed rapid service development after implementing Huawei’s
mature and reliable 450M wireless access solution. Over the past two years, Tibet
Telecom has allocated 400,000 numbers to subscribers, and its ARPU value has
reached RMB150.
Tibet Telecom saves power consumption by means of solar batteries, and reduces
civil engineering time and manpower via satellite use and an efficient transport
system. The wide coverage and powerful diffraction performance of Huawei’s
solution is able to satisfy network construction requirements in mountainous and
thinly populated areas. In comparison with other wireless modes, Tibet Telecom has
saved BTS resource use by 50% and, as a senior manager of Tibet Telecom states,
“Huawei’s 450M wireless access system has made an important contribution to our
goal of providing universal communication services.”
China Telecom and China Netcom both selected Huawei’s 450M wireless
access system, with the former already have purchased more than 12 million
lines. Currently, there are 9,000 wireless access BTSs in mainland China’s rural
areas to date, 7,000 of which were equipped by Huawei, giving a total market
share of 77.8%. Moreover, of the 19,000 domestic carrier frequency systems,
15,000 have been supplied by Huawei, representing a 78.9% market share;
there’s a total network capacity of 15 million lines running on networks.

OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 36

 HOW TO OPERATE
Choice for global rural communications

In 2006, the number of fixed phone wide 450M wireless access network wireless access network and the stability
and PHS subscribers across the Chinese coverage from Minsk to the entire and reliability that arise from mature
mainland increased by 14 million, of which country in less than 12 months. technologies. Since few BTSs are required,
5.2 million subscribed to the 450M wireless the engineering is simple and construction
rural phone service, comprising 37% of Phase I construction covered Minsk, time short.
the total growth. 2007 development trend Belarus’ capital, and was completed in
suggests that the increase in 450M wireless
rural phone subscribers is likely to exceed the
just one month after Huawei and Belcel
signed the project contract. After the
Wide signal coverage
sum of fixed phones and PHS subscribers. equipment was commissioned, the result
was very satisfactory. Three expansions were STI, Indonesia: Signal coverage
These case studies verify the capability
conducted later, enlarging the subscriber now remains uninterrupted by seas
of the 450M wireless access system to
capacity to 200,000, and spreading the or mountains.
conquer adverse environments, and its
continued status as the most effective rural services from Minsk to five other cities of
Huawei’s 450M wireless access technology
communication solution. the country. To satisfy increasing customer
now leads all land wireless technology in
requirements, Belcel is presently planning
terms of coverage, including 3G. It is capable
Short construction time to enlarge capacity to cater for 400,000
of covering over 50 km, and the area a single
subscribers during Phase IV of the project.
Huawei BTS covers is equivalent to that
Belcel, Belarus: In collaboration Rapid deployment capability originates
covered by 10 UMTSs or 6 GSM BTSs given
with Huawei, Belcel achieved nation- from the inherent superiority of the 450M
the same environmental conditions. The
technology also features a powerful diffraction
performance that is capable of diffracting
subscribers Statistics of subscribers of subscribers
mountains and other difficult terrains, and
140000 "information village" 9000 is thus applicable to complex topographic
8000 conditions. In addition, this high-capacity,
120000
7000
S666-type directional antenna BTS can cover
100000
6000
19,956 subscribers. With this wide coverage
80000
superiority, the Indonesian operator, STI, can
5000
now access all of its land and sea territories in
4000
60000 the most economical way possible.
40000
3000 Extending across the equator, Indonesia
2000 occupies a vast area that boasts 13,677 various
20000
1000 sized islands, with 30 small archipelagos
0 0 and five major islands. Mountains stretch
2006.7 2006.8 2006.9 2006.10 2006.11 2006.12 2007.1 2007.2 2007.3
in an unbroken chain, and small plains
Current number of subscribers of
remote village access
Net increase of subscribers of
remote village access
and marshlands dot the seacoasts. Wireless
access featuring wide coverage and powerful
signal diffraction capabilities is not merely
RMB million
Changes of revenue from applicable to the topographic conditions of
400
remote village access services
25%
Indonesia; it also demonstrates considerable
350 20% superiority in covering the nation’s vast seas.
300 Cooperation between STI and Huawei
15%
began with Phase I construction of 152 BTSs
250
10% covering Lampung, Bali & Lombok, 80%
200
of which are rural. The Phase 1 network
5%
150 was successfully deployed and subscriber
100
0% numbers increased quickly, reaching 75,000
-5%
in just a short time. By the end of 2006, this
50
number exceeded 112,000 and it is hoped
0
2006.7 2006.8 2006.9 2006.10 2006.11 2006.12 2007.1 2007.2 2007.3
-10% that 2007 will bring a total of 600,000.
Based on the outstanding coverage
Revenue from remote Month-on-month Percentage in main
village access services growth rate service revenue performance and effective number allocation
after Phase I’s commercial application,
Fig.1 Number of 450M wireless access phone subscribers and revenue STI has quickened its pace in order to
of services of China Telecom Sichuan accomplish its 2007 nation-wide coverage
and subscriber development plans. The

37 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34


superiority of Huawei’s 450M wireless access
network has received full testimony during
commercial use, and its wide coverage
capability describes a solid foundation for
STI to achieve nation-wide coverage.
Rapid number allocation
China Telecom Sichuan: 1.38
million numbers allocated in 2 years.
Sichuan is a large province situated in
the west of China that accounts for 6.69%
of China’s total population. 60 million of
Sichuan’s 87.50 million inhabitants reside
in rural areas and China Telecom Sichuan
began construction of its RASYS wireless
rural access phone at the end of 2004. Phase
I equipment capacity covered 1.10 million
lines, and 2005 witnessed an increase of
680,000 subscribers. 2006 attracted a
further 700,000 customers, and these 2 years
delivered a combined total service revenue
of RMB630 million. It is anticipated that
Sichuan Telecom’s total investment can be
recouped within four years.
Taking China Telecom Sichuan’s Luzhou
branch as an example, the development of its
450M wireless rural phone enjoys exemplary
success. Luzhou has a total population of
4.83 million, 3.9 million of whom live in
1.15 million rural households. By the end
of March 2007, subscriber numbers reached
125,000 and, from July 2006 to March
2007, an average of 6,400 new customers
subscribed each month to the 450M
wireless rural phone. During the two peak
periods of August to October 2006 and
January to March 2007, this figure reached
an average of 8,000 per month. The increase
of 450M subscribers and traffic in remote
rural areas is increasingly contributing to the
total revenue of Luzhou branch, and now
accounts for approximately 10%.
Abundant value-added
services
Value-added services (VAS): As
many as 15 types of VAS.
Using Huawei’s 450M wireless access
phone, operators can provide end users
with both fixed and mobile phone services,
and supply 15 VAS types in four categories:
1. Data services, including broadband
access Internet, data collection and video
monitoring.
2. Broadcast services, such as cluster
communications through public networks,
short message broadcast, conference calls,
radio broadcasts, and so on.
3. Audio info card services, including
Farmyard Encyclopedia, Push to Talk,
Family Talk, and chargeable cards.
4. Public phones and emergency
communications services, for example,
wireless public phones, public mobile
phones, and emergency communications.
The emergency communication service
is available from vehicles involved in flood
or earthquake rescue, forming a lifeline
during disasters and other emergencies.
In 2004, there were three disaster-stricken
towns following a torrential flood in Y
City, China. All means of communications
were interrupted except Huawei’s 450M
wireless emergency phones. The mayor of
Y City used his 450M wireless phone to
oversee disaster rescue, saving the lives and
assets of tens of thousands of people. In a
press interview, the mayor praised Huawei’s
450M wireless phone, acknowledging that,
“Huawei’s wireless phone was the lifeline
during the flood.”
Audio info ser vices focuses on
information services that supply farmers
with audio information closely related
to their daily work and lives. Farmyard
Encyclopedia, for instance, transmits
agricultural information concerning labor,
seeds, fertilizers, feed, trade and other
relevant news. Received on terminals, the
service not only benefits users in a practical
sense, but also fosters good habits in terms
of technology and its uses. Push to Talk
sets access numbers on handsets for both a
rural voice information station and other
common telecommunication services,
which users can activate with a single key
press.
From a range of perspectives, various
VAS satisfy current and future rural
communications demands, spanning high-
quality voice services, rural informatization
and IT implementation for rural local
governments. Viewed over the long-
term, its application is far from limited to
the countryside - it has extended to the
resource industry that is in close relation
Huawei Technologies
with the national economy, emergency
communications for major disaster rescue,
and circuit backup for VIP customers and
key communication services.
Few operational faults
Faulty card ratio: Lower than 6
per 10 million per month.
G e n e r a l l y, t h e c o s t o f r u r a l
communications facility maintenance is
relatively high. Rural cabled phone networks
feature more copper cable joints, lower
cohesiveness and serious water immersion
problems. This causes a sharp reduction
in the insulation resistance of lines,
giving a monthly fault rate that exceeds
2%. Furthermore, repair speeds are slow,
communications quality cannot be assured
and copper cables are liable to be stolen.
Both user complaints and maintenance
costs are unreasonably high.
Conversely, 450M wireless access
equipment can be used for longer periods
and is rarely targeted by thieves. China
Telecom saves tens of millions of RMB
per year in cables that would otherwise be
stolen. Statistics, moreover, illustrate that
the maintenance cost of 450M wireless
access averages RMB8 per line, compared
with RMB30 incurred by cabled phones.
Operator Y possesses a 450M wireless
access capacity of 200,000 lines. According
to their statistics for April and May 2007,
Huawei’s 450M wireless access network
gave the following average operation and
maintenance indices: operation rate -
99.5%; call completion rate - 99.2%; call
drop rate - 0.41%. Over the past three
years, only 4 BTS and system cards have
been sent for repair, representing a faulty
rate of less than 6 per 10 million per month
(line/card). These statistics are clearly
superior to other wireless systems.
Studies show that a universal
communication solution has matured.
Such a solution features less investment
costs, short construction times, wide
signal coverage, rapid number allocation,
abundant VAS and few faults. Indeed, many
global operators hold that, “The 450M
wireless access phone represents the best
choice for global rural communications.”
Editor: Liu Zhonglin liuzhonglin@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 38
 INTERVIEW
The harvest road of Bakrie Telecom Indonesia
The harvest road of Bakrie
Telecom Indonesia
While it’s an undeniable trend that fixed operators are suffering from a shrinking customer base, Barkie Telecom, Indonesia,
has rapidly grown its fixed wireless subscriber base from 20 thousand to over 2 million in just five years. Our reporter caught
up with Mr. Erik Meijer, the Deputy President Director of the company, and probed into the key to the company’s success.
By Huawei Reporter
Focus on creating better
life
Reporter: Mr. Meijer, could you please
introduce to us the current operation
circumstance of Bakrie Telecom?
Meijer: Bakrie is actually a pretty old
company. At that time Bakrie used ETDM
technology and it’s the second fixed line
operator in Indonesia. But the ETDM was
marginally profitable, very difficult to deploy,
users have to have the huge box at their
house. It is the one connected to the phone
inside the house. So a few years ago Bakrie
decided to do things differently. We not only
focus on real fixed line communication but
also go for limited mobility fixed wireless.
We re-branded our product and started
calling it Esia in order to expand the customer
base in the few years. But for this wireless
limited mobility what we’ve done is basically
with government license so that we are
allowed to operate in every city. In 2006 we
39 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
were awarded a nationwide license because
of our success. It’s still based on fixed wireless
mobility but now we are able to operate in
any city in Indonesia. We are rolling out the
network together with Huawei and we shall
be able to launch in another few cities in next
one or two months.
Why we can make more benefits in
this business? Indonesia has 220 million
inhabitants. At this moment only 60 million
of those actually have access to telephone.
Since we launched the fixed wireless access
business via a CDMA network, our fixed
wireless access subscriber base grew from
20 thousand to over 2 million in just five
years, Bakrie’s vision is to create better life for
Indonesians by providing affordable and high
quality information connectivity to them.
Operational strategies
Reporter: What do you consider
are the key factors in order to provide
Indonesians with affordable and high-
quality information services?
Meijer: First of all, we are using budget
telecom business model. We position more
to be like AirAsia, low budget carrier kind
of company where people go in just to get
from point A to point B and you bring your
own food if necessary. We put a lot of effort
on branding and advertising. Focus on this
target segment so we don’t go all the way
and try to get everybody on board. We have
low cost advantages. We also have highly
promoting expendable coverage area.
Based on the simple basis model, we
have four rules. One is focus on voice and
SMS services. 90% of Indonesian people
only use their phone for voice and SMS.
It saves us a lot of money and therefore
it can save the consumers a lot of money.
Indonesia is primarily a prepaid market
which 95% of Indonesian subscribers use
the prepaid. We have postpaid service
but the main focus is on prepaid. We use
indirect distribution to reduce cost of
setting up thousands of our own shops.
We try to offer real value for money, low
tariff, and affordable handset. These are the
key success factors that we live by basically
to reach the mission and vision.
Reporter: We all know that Indonesia
holds a very large potential market.
What strategies has Bakrie adopted to
enlarge its consumer base?
Meijer: We also address a large consumer
Mr. Erik Meijer, the Deputy President Director of Bakrie Telecom: “Since we launched the fixed wireless access
business via a CDMA network, our fixed wireless access subscriber base grew from 20 thousand to over 2
million in just five years, Bakrie’s vision is to create better life for Indonesians by providing affordable and
high quality information connectivity to them.”
base with two different segments. One is
we go after the existing GSM users because
they have been paying much for the
telecommunication so far. We are planning
to get a second one and make your outgoing
call on our network. We also go for new
subscribers who don’t have a phone yet.
The first best entry will be our network
with a cheap phone and cheap tariff.
Based on that positioning strategy we
see that our market share and sales have
grown consistently and substantially
within one and half year we have tripled
our customer base. This is one of the ads
that we put out. Basically we just say: “If
you would call for one hour, which one
would you choose? GSM will cost you Rp
80.000 (about US$8), but Bakrie’s Esia for
only Rp 1.000 (10 cents)!” We have this
promotion saying: “Call for one hour and
only pay Rp 1.000 (10 cents)!” We still
make comparable ARPU level.
Actually our ARPU is the second
highest in the industry and higher than all
but one GSM operators. That’s explained,
proven by dropping price substantially
makes people not pay less but it actually
makes them talk a lot more. Fortunately
with the efficiency of CDMA, we are able
to use that and transport all the traffic at
very low rate that we are charging and
therefore still make a high ARPU for
Indonesia.
Branding strategies
Reporter: In order to implement the
aforesaid operation strategies, which
brand strategies has Bakrie adopted?
Meijer: On the branding point, based
on a research by TNS when most people
are asked about what brand they consider
to use besides the one they are using now,
most of them are looking towards our
brand. With Rp 10.000 credit inside we
sell it for Rp 30.000 so there is no reason
that they will use it up and buy a new one.
They will recharge instead of buying a new
starter pack.
We also see that our aggressive on-net
pricing has stimulated loyalty because people
are actually building their own community.
We are selling our product to family,
companies, school classes so that they can
enjoy this very cheap on-net tariff that we
have. That creates stickiness. Of course with
us rolling out nationwide we hope that this
stickiness will strengthen further.
Until last year people are talking about
push credit. Push credit is one of the GSM
operator’s advantages. Basically it focuses
on the value of recharge voucher instead of
the amount of talk time that people got.
We’ve chased that with a lot of advertising
basically saying that we offer the longest
talk time compared to anyone else. That
has been successfully communicated. We
want to make sure that every Indonesian
has the right to use telephony.
We work basically with everybody in
the market with CDMA phone. We have
value added voice portal, although we do
value added voice service; we try to do that
through SMS and voice, which is our basic
strategy.
Technical strategies
Reporter: How does Bakrie apply its
advantages in the fixed wireless business?
Here technically, what advantages can
CDMA bring to Bakrie compared with
GSM?
Meijer: There are about 45 million
GSM users who claim not to roam. So
it’s definitely our market. There are 55
million who should be able to afford a
phone but still have not, so they are new
users, that’s also our market. There are
15 million GSM people who do roam.
But we see that 45% of our consumers
use two phones, which are what we are
promoting, so we are using dual-phone
usage. Dual mode phone which can use
GSM card and CDMA card has also come
into the market. We have achieved a lot of
productivity on CAPEX and OPEX. We
have limited mobility fixed wireless access
advantage, the late entrant advantage and
also good operational advantages.
CDMA advantages as we see is that we
get a lot of asset productivity compared
to GSM. We pay less to cover the same
area at the same capacity and we notice
that we need about 75% less base station
to provide the same coverage and capacity
of GSM operator. We are also 30% more
spectrum efficient. We also pay less inter-
connects which is part of the fixed wireless
advantage that we have. We have, on the
CDMA advantage also, software-based
technology to operate so we don’t need to
constantly replace our network.
On the fixed wireless limited mobility,
advantage is that we don’t need to actually
cover the whole country. We also have
regulatory advantage in terms of license
fee, inter-connect fee, frequency fee
and those kinds of stuff. We also have
the advantage of being a late entrant to
the market with CDMA because we are
going to a maturing technology which
means there a lot of standardizations have
happened already. We have rapidly reduced
infrastructure CAPEX.
Future prospect
Reporter: What is Bakrie’s plan for
future development?
Meijer: The next task will be national
rollout. We plan to cover 17 new cities
this year and to ensure the coverage
about 52% of Indonesian telecom
market. Most of the new cities that we
are going to get into have lower GDP
for the region, so we can attack them
better with our value promise. And we’
ve also seen that our brand awareness in
those new areas is already very high. We
are proved to make a healthy profit from
surveying this market. Therefore we are
moving forward to legalize our dream
which is basically providing good access
to telecommunication service for all
Indonesians.
Editor: Zhou Huajiao zhouhj@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 40
 SOLUTION
Empowered by the 3rd generation BSC
Empowered by the 3rd
generation BSC
By Wu Si
Where is BSC heading?
T
he BSC forms an important
mobile network component
that, in the context of
mobile communication’s
developmental direction,
provides a key link for holistic and urgently
required network IP transformation and
evolution.
The 1st generation BSCs were oriented
to IS-95 and 1x, and mainly designed to
solve traditional circuit voice problems.
The 2nd generation BSCs were intended
to meet basic data service and network IP
transformation needs, while continuing
to support circuit switched (CS) domain
development such as EV-DO, and A
and Abis interface IP transformation.
C u r r e n t l y, t h e B S C i s f a c e d w i t h
unprecedented challenges regarding its
capability and performance.
First of all, market competition and
existing network operations have led
CDMA operators to consider methods to
accelerate network deployment and further
reduce end-to-end TCO. Furthermore,
Network evolution and development
requires a remarkably improved QoS
mechanism for EV-DO Rev. A, a more
complex radio resource management
algorithm, and a strong engine for Ultra
Mobile Broadband (UMB) throughput
that will even exceed 100 Mbps in a
single sector. Adaptation to these market
requirements calls for the emergence of the
3rd generation BSC.
41 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
IP transformation
empowered by the 3rd
generation BSC
The 3rd generation CDMA BSC is
integral to solving existing networks’
traditional CS domain problems and
achieving All-IP mobile broadband and
real-time multimedia service network
evolution. Accomplishing this depends on
its five outstanding capabilities.
Powerful IP central switching
network
The 3rd generation BSC exhibits a
remarkable capacity increase and a powerful
IP central switching network. Its unified
internal IP switching network reduces
complexity and improves integration, thus
facilitating performance improvements,
reducing the number of unnecessary
NEs (network elements) and enabling
rapid network deployment. In addition,
outstanding network performance protects
investment and ensures that the network
can cost-effectively evolve to UMB.
Flexible All-IP networking capability
To enable All-IP networking, both
high grade IP transmission efficiency and
powerful physical interface capabilities
are extremely important. Only the ability
to support E1/T1, FE, STM-1, ADSL,
microwave and other transmission media can
ensure convenient and flexible networking
from urban areas to remote islands or deserts.
According to different operators’ bearer
network conditions, the 3rd generation
BSC provides different interfaces and
networking schemes. For operators with
rich TDM resources, IP over E1 can
be provided. For small and medium-
sized operators with limited transmission
resources, the implementation of direct
IP connection without routers will realize
CAPEX and OPEX reductions.
Flexible configuration and easy
maintenance
Regardless of network scale, which can
span tens of thousands of subscribers to
several million, operators can conduct
flexible configuration and capacity
expansion through stacking. This is
undertaken concordantly with actual
network development needs in order to
seamlessly upgrade services. Even under
a small-scale capacity configuration, the
3rd generation BSC still offers a favorable
price performance ratio.
Some manufacturers presently employ
a patented Dual Plane Symmetrical
Mixed-Plug technology with unbound
slot positions to easily realize extremely
complicated expansion and configuration
changes. Due to the complexity of BSC
services, traditional 2nd Generation
products invariably possess dozens of board
types, and the 3rd generation products
reduce this quantity by using sub-boards
coupled with other new design ideas. This
tremendously reduces the complexity and

maintenance cost of equipment inventory.
Ultra-high integration and ultra-
low power consumption
With the continuous rise in network scale
and the emergence of multiple access modes,
the number of devices has increased, which
exerts greater spatial pressure on equipment
rooms. The 3rd generation BSC’s advanced
integration characteristics can better utilize
available space. Dual Plane Symmetrical
Mixed-Plug technology can, for example,
theoretically double spatial usage.
The 3rd generation BSC’s advanced
technology can control power consumption
per subscriber to within 5mw, compared
with 10+mw for the 2nd Generation BSC.
Given 2 million subscribers and a power rate
of RMB1.6/kwh, a sum of RMB140,000
(USD17,500) can be saved each year in
power charges. Low power consumption
also generates less heat, which reduces
equipment room air conditioning costs.
All-round disaster tolerance and
backup capability
Due to its huge capacity, the 3rd
generation BSC demands greater system
stability and reliability and requires a
comprehensive backup capability. This
must at least feature: an All-IP switching
network with dual-plane backup in
the switching layer; 1+1 service board
protection or resource pool mode in
the board layer; a service continuation
mechanism in the event of interface board
failure in the transport layer; and multilayer
backup capability for maintenance boards,
communication links and the maintenance
client in the maintenance layer.
Gaining an edge through
PARC BSC
The Huawei-developed Platform of
Advanced Radio Controller (PARC)
represents a new generation All-IP hardware
platform that boasts cutting-edge technology
and excellent competitive strengths. After
absorbing the multiple advantages of ATCA,
the 3rd generation BSC PARC is large in
capacity, highly integrated, flexibly designed,
highly reliable and offers flawless IP BSS
networking capability while significantly
reducing energy consumption. The PARC
BSC fully meets smooth IP network
evolution demands in response to mobile
network trends, and remarkably curtails
network construction and maintenance
costs. Thus competitiveness is improved
across the whole network.
Implementing multiple patented
technologies, the PARC BSC currently
Huawei Technologies
leads the industry and displays outstanding
technical indices. As far as performance is
concerned, central switch bandwidth can
be expanded from 120 Gbps to 1 Tbps.
In terms of integration, the PARC BSC
can serve 2 million subscribers, but occupy
an area of less than 1sqm. As for power
consumption, each subscriber requires
only 4.25 mw. Regarding IP transmission,
transmission expenses are saved by over 30%.
In addition, it enables flexible configuration.
Every 26 slot positions in a subrack can
be freely configured. Besides, a complete
backup mechanism and five backups realize
comprehensive E1 port protection.
The Indian operator TATA, for example,
previously required 44 BSCs and over
100 cabinets to cover the Delhi area. After
deploying Huawei’s PARC BSC, only four
BSCs and eight cabinets are necessary. The
large capacity and highly integrated PARC
BSC has, not surprisingly, received much
praise and recognition from TATA.
To date, Huawei’s pioneering PARC
BSC has been widely deployed in various
mobile networks, and has received favorable
comments from a number of operators in
addition to TATA. These include China
Mobile, Brazil’s Vivo, Vietnam’s Vinaphone,
Pakistan’s Ufone, Singapore’s StarHub, and
Chile’s Movistar.
Editor: Xu Peng xupeng@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 42
 SOLUTION
To defend and grow through LiteFME
Decline of traditional
narrowband services
T
he global tide of fixed
network construction
began receding 10 years
ago. All fixed network
operators deployed PSTN
networks, not only faced direct and fierce
competition from mobile operators, but
also subjected to nascent and oblique
attacks from new technologies such
as VoIP and IM. Instant messaging
platforms such as QQ, MSN, and Skype
bring a seismic shift to the operating
philosophy and rules spanning the whole
communication industry.
According to a study, the market
share occupied by VoIP equipment
manufacturers increased by 32% in
2006, totaling USD3.3 billion, and this
was accompanied by a sharp growth in
services of all VoIP products. Viewed from
a traffic perspective, international VoIP
traffic accounted for less than 10 million
minutes in 1997, but reached 61.8 billion
minutes in 2006, which comprises 20%
of total global traffic. The rapid growth
43 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
Faced with inevitable network transformation to mobile and
IP, how should fixed and integrated operators with CDMA
networks defend and grow new revenues?
To defend
and grow through
LiteFME
in subscriber numbers and traffic volume
indicates that voice services are transferring
to IP at a breakneck speed.
Fixed network operators have attempted
to defend their position through broadband
construction, service innovation, and
mobile network construction that includes
PHS, GSM and CDMA networks. While
they expected to regain dominance, these
measures have not and cannot prevent
the decline of fixed networks, or more
specifically, the decline of fixed networks’
narrowband services.
According to European and American
statistics, fixed network subscribers are
increasingly declining. In 2006, DT lost
2.3 million fixed-line subscribers and, for
AT&T, VoIP services further exacerbated
the worsening position of its fixed network
services after the loss of subscribers due to
fixed mobile substitution (FMS).
The situation in developing countries
is also bleak. While the decline of fixed
networks is not as fast and sharp as in the
developed world, the loss of fixed network
subscribers is inexorable and accelerating.
The growth generated by new subscribers
is rapidly offset by those who are lost.
Although mobile services will not enjoy
By Li Guodong
overwhelming dominance in the short
term, major fixed network operators in
these countries need to urgently ascertain
how to transform in order to regain
competitiveness and survive.
The market in less developed countries
is characterized by low fixed network
penetration rates and insufficient cable
resources. The cost of constructing a
new fixed network is far higher than
constructing a mobile network, which
makes mobile networks grow much faster,
hence prompting FMS.
One outcome we can guarantee regarding
the future of networks is the certainty of
mobile and IP transformation. What, then,
is the future of the fixed network?
Convergence
transformation based on
existing advantages
Compared with pure mobile operators,
fixed network operators enjoy inherent
advantages and unrivalled vitality. Firstly,
fixed operators still have numerous wired
broadband and enterprise subscribers who
are accustomed to original communication

modes in terms of ser vice suppor t,
charging systems and usage habits.
Secondly, years of construction has
given fixed network operators significant
network infrastructure advantages and rich
operating experiences.
Since CDMA technology has long
formed a mobile supplement for fixed
network operators, it takes into account
their operating characteristics including
customer habits in segmented markets.
Service development is easy and long-term
cooperation with fixed network operators
allows CDMA to pick up many features
and functions of both mobile and fixed
networks. Not only is this far beyond the
capabilities of GSM, but the wide coverage
capability of CDMA 450 MHz system also
far exceeds other systems. Such advantages
have led fixed network operators to choose
CDMA to realize remarkable network
construction cost savings.
In terms of service provision, fixed
operators’ advantages lie with voice
deployment and combinations when
c o m p a re d w i t h t h e i m p a c t o f Vo I P
technology. Voice deployment has been
a constant headache for current VoIP
operators, while fixed operators can
forcibly resist VoIP operators by combining
local network advantages. AT&T and BT
can be used to illustrate this reactive stance
to VoIP.
E a r l i e r t h i s y e a r, AT & T o f f e re d
100 million mobile and fixed network
subscribers free calls to and from
other AT&T subscribers via ser vice
combinations, and thus employed its local
network advantages to resist the dilution
of its traffic by VoIP operators.
BT globally deployed the world’s
largest SIP network, and partnered with
Yahoo! Messenger to launch Softphone-
based VoIP services, which allows local
SIP terminals to be used to make calls to
BT Softphones registered anywhere in the
world. This strategy increases BT’s global
reach, initiating a new telecom operation
mode which promotes services via others’
networks.
For most fixed network operators,
convergence denotes future development.
Here “convergence” does not simply
mean “transformation”, since fixed
network operators cannot become pure
mobile operators who compete with well-
established mobile operators. Specifically,
fixed operators may become the largest
convergent network operators in their
countries rather than leading mobile
operators.
Fixed operators need to optimally
utilize local networks - fixed, mobile and
data - and SIP technology based on IP
architecture. This must be accompanied
with the consolidation and expansion of
services designed for enterprise subscribers.
Thus, operators can grow with fixed,
mobile and data network convergence and
defend against the invasion of FMS and
VoIP.
The way to rapid
convergence
During its long-term cooperation with
fixed network operators, Huawei has
developed a thorough understanding about
future evolution patterns, from which arises
its LiteFME integration solution. LiteFME
is designed to enhance service provision
capability and operator competitiveness. To
achieve this, the solution combines features
of Huawei’s proven CDMA, softswitch
and data communication products to
provide global fixed operators with
a solution based on existing network
convergence.
Develop corporate, SIP,
convergence and wireless
broadband services
Convergence describes the orientation
of all fixed network operators for future
development. Enterprise and SIP services
that are imbued with mobile characteristics
w i l l a l l ow f i xe d o p e r a t o r s t o m o re
powerfully defend their position against
mobile and VoIP operators. Convergence
and SIP services will yield a sharp weapon
with which fixed operators can win
customers in developing markets.
LiteFME is integrated with EV-DO
Rev.A based VoIP, VT, Video Conference,
Instant Message, Unified Message, IP Fax,
and other services. Greater diversification
and assured QoS greatly elevates both fixed
and integrated operators’ service provision
capabilities in the CDMA network field.
Huawei Technologies
Save investment and maintenance costs
LiteFME applies unified network
architecture in the core network to exert
control over wireless access (CDMA,
WiMAX), fixed access (PSTN) and data
access (xDSL, FTTx) networks. This
affords considerable savings in investment
and maintenance compared with previous
networking modes in which fixed and
mobile networks are separate. The upper
layer service platform can be repeatedly
accessed to reduce excessive investment
in multi-service platform construction
that caters independently for mobile
and fixed core networks. Additionally,
upgrading to EV-DO Rev.A based on the
existing CDMA2000 1X network requires
less investment and is quicker than
constructing a new 3G network.
Realize convergence experience
based on the IMS architecture
LiteFME’s design embodies IMS’s
sophisticated design concepts, employs
unified subscriber data management
to provide the same service experiences
for subscribers using multiple services
under different access modes, and lays
a solid foundation for mobile roaming
management. Service delivery is more
convenient and flexible and ser vice
management easier and more efficient,
thus ensuring the seamless evolution of
LiteFME to IMS.
LiteFME provides a new option for
operators for convergence transformation.
Significantly, it impacts minimally on
existing networks. Compared with IMS,
which requires the creation of most of
its network elements, LiteFME applies
experience convergence based on mature
technology and equipment, and effectively
solves some huge problems, notably
the enormous tasks of IMS network
reconstruction and new service loading
during convergence.
The LiteFME solution provides a
completely new choice for the world’s
fixed network operators who collectively
account for 1.7 billion subscribers. It
offers a potentially massive impact on the
services, sales and transfer modes of future
fixed network operators.
Editor: Xue Hua xuehua@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 44
 SOLUTION
TRUST R
TruStar: a true star of digital trunking service
a true star of
digital trunking service
Since adopting PTT (Push To Talk), Nextel has achieved phenomenal successes in the American
telecommunications market. Successfully merging with Sprint in 2004, Nextel has created a domestic ARPU
record and boasts both the lowest churn and fastest user growth rates. In fact, Nextel is just one of the many
operators who have benefited from PTT services.
What do users want?
P
TT is currently one of the
key fields garnering attention
across the wireless industry.
N O P Wo r l d , o n e o f t h e
world’s largest investigative
and business information providers,
explains Nextel’s success in its May 2004
PTT Research Report: approximately
28% of users selected PTT since it is
considerably quicker than making regular
cell calls; 20% viewed PTT as more
convenient, and 24% were impressed with
PTT’s flexible costing system. To date,
the type communication model embodied
by PTT has been widely accepted by
countless global users and operators.
It not only describes a reliable and
convenient nascent means of communication,
but also a commercially viable endeavor that
can potentially yield high returns. Trunking
services employing PTT are currently used
to maximize capability, efficiency and ensure
effective two-way communication in a range
of fields including government, emergency
services, utilities and corporations.
45 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
Talk in real-time
Social and economic development has
culminated in an increasingly fast-paced
society to which communication methods
have adapted and responded. A niche
has opened for real-time communication
experiences, and speed is a precondition
for success in business, production,
management and dispatch. Real-time
communication is especially a necessity in
emergency and public safety services that
give direct impact on people’s lives and
security.
Making talk easy
A single key press that connects one-
to-one or one-to-group is considerably
more convenient than inputting a
series of numbers. On a personal level,
simplified, convenient and instantaneous
communication methods are increasingly
mature, offering immeasurable benefits for
maintaining relationships with family and
friends. In terms of business, a single key
press can access users to an almost instant
real-time information exchange even when
By Yuan Long
mobile, be it a one-to-one discussion or
a conference with an entire team. It is no
longer necessary to attempt a call several
times if the intended receiver is busy,
and additional equipment is not required
to receive high-speed data services, thus
increasing efficiency, convenience and
customer satisfaction.
Best value
To d a y’s i n f o r m a t i o n g e n e r a t i o n
demands unlimited commercial
communication in terms of conducting
business, production and management.
Given the amount of information that is
shared in the modern world, best value
communication services are prerequisite in
terms of saving time and money.
TruStar: a true star of
digital trunking
Huawei’s TruStar (Trunking Star)
solution is based on half duplex
telecommunication over CDMA2000,
and delivers trunking services over cellular

networks. The technology provides
one-to-one and one-to-group voice
communication services, and CDMA high
speed data services to mobile phones via a
single key press.
Rich service offerings
TruStar provides both personal and
professional trunking services in order to
satisfy diverse application scenarios. With
respect to professional users including
government, utilities, emergency rescue,
enterprises and manufacturing, a powerful
administrative performance and a strong
management capability are necessary.
In order to assist users build their own
VPMN (virtual private mobile network),
TruStar can provide a variety of services:
dispatch, VGCS ( Voice Group Call
Service), VBS (Voice Broadcast Service),
private calling, priority services and
eMLPP (enhanced Multi Level Precedence
and Preemption), late entry, dynamic
grouping, automatic answering, emergency
calling and permanent on-line status.
Personal users’ requirements, however,
differ in that more attention is given to
differentiated experiences. Individuals tend
to be less concerned about the specifics
of new communication methods, but
whether they can gain benefits without any
existing service changes. TruStar provides
PTT services, notably the group call
function, in order to enhance convenience
for users. For example, a group member
can be accessed via the phone book, and
temporary group calls can be set up any
time, any place based on a personalized
VPMN. As such, TruStar can assist users
construct a shared resource pool.
Other than high speed data services,
a range of other services are available
to satisfy entertainment and business
requirements: broadband internet, VT
(Video Telephone), mobile games, and
VAS (Value-Added Services). Moreover,
TruStar’s flexible pricing system provides
a customized tariff system based on times
of calls, call duration, traffic flow and
monthly fees.
The abundant services outlined above
greatly ameliorate the deficiencies that
currently exist in the general Trunking
Communication System. Besides cellular-
based professional trunking services,
TruStar also provides CDMA2000 1x
EV-DO high speed data and public voice
services, and VAS. As a combination of
trunking and CDMA services stimulates
customer loyalty, TruStar is highly effective
in bringing new income opportunities for
operators, reduces churn rate and increases
ARPU.
Outstanding performance
High performance and reliable
communications are increasingly important
in light of the global preoccupation
with safety. Focusing on the needs of
professional users, TruStar commits
itself to continuous improvements in
these areas. In addition to high capacity,
confidentiality, strong anti-jamming
capabilities, and high quality CDMA voice
services, TruStar adopts specialized fast
access, sharing channels, power control,
and voice quality technology.
B a s e d o n H u a w e i ’s a d v a n c e d
technology, TruStar achieves the shortest
end-to-end voice delays, taking only 100
to 200ms for a caller’s voice to be relayed
to the receiver, and TruStar boasts an access
success rate of over 99%. The technology
also enables powerful processing and
bearing capabilities. For instance, a single
TruStar Server can simultaneously establish
Huawei Technologies
20,000 sessions, with a subscriber and group
capability of 500,000. Advanced interface
technology optimizes TruStar’s performance
by employing air-interface and terrestrial
link sharing technology. Furthermore, a
temperature resistant back up mechanism
allows TruStar to operate normally even in
extreme conditions.
Saving TCO
From a network investor’s perspective,
network development and evolution is
extremely important and a thorough
understanding of future network direction
and operational methods is essential,
given the obvious impact on CAPEX
and OPEX. Imbued with technological
maturity, solid expansibility potential and
the advantages of CDMA technology,
TruStar can smoothly evolve into CDMA
IMS. Compared with general Trunking
Communication System evolution, TruStar
has undergone a qualitative leap.
Tr u S t a r i m p l e m e n t a t i o n i s n o t
complicated; the advanced integrated
technology and network design concept
allow investors to simply overlap a PTT
Server in order to deploy the technology,
which reflects a minor change in existing
CDMA networking architecture. This
achieves CAPEX savings and stimulates
rapid deployment capabilities.
TruStar also provides an All-IP interface
to support future-oriented network
evolution and expansibility, and the
advanced shared terrestrial link technology
assists investors to maximize transmission
resource savings. When coupled with a
mature, carrier-class softswitch platform,
the high performance and excellent
reliability of TruStar guarantees operational
success, significantly curtailing OPEX.
Editor: Zhou Huajiao zhouhj@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 46
 SOLUTION
SOLUTION

The HLR guardian By Wan Yanqi & Wang Minghu

Situated in the uppermost layer of a mobile communication network, the Home Location Register (HLR) is employed to
store mobile subscribers’ location information, authentication data and subscription service information. This information
is essential to stimulate service availability, and a faulty HLR may mean several million subscribers cannot be authenticated
or access desired services. The implications on an operator's revenue, brand image and customer satisfaction levels are
obvious and, consequently, methods of achieving holistic HLR security has emerged as a challenging focus.

Dilemma in geographical will automatically take over the service

provision role, without affecting subscribers’
an additional backup server to store data
from the active HLRs. If an active HLR is
redundancy construction communication channels. Thus, perfect down, maintenance personnel can manually

T
network quality is preserved. However, this upload data from the backup server to the
o avoid HLR faults and
solution exhibits obvious drawbacks in terms geographical-redundancy HLR, allowing it to
enhance availability, operators
of construction costs and OPEX. continue providing services.
usually deploy an HLR
First, it is a 1+1 solution that assigns The N+1 Geographical Redundancy
geographical redundancy
one active and one disaster tolerant HLR, Solution eliminates the 1+1 Solution’s high
solution, and the network
meaning double investment is required for investment costs and OPEX, but network
quality, construction costs and OPEX are
signaling link resources, utilities, equipment quality is unsatisfactory since it takes 30-60
the dominant factors to be considered.
room rent, maintenance, and OPEX. Second, minutes to recover communications. The
1+1 Geographical Real-time Redundancy
the solution requires Business and Operation underlying cause is that dynamic information
Solution and N+1 Geographical Redundancy
Support System (BOSS) modification in the such as subscriber’s location cannot be
Solution represent the two most popular
existing network to synchronize subscriber synchronized with the geographical-
solutions among those currently proposed
data on the two HLRs, which increases system redundancy HLR, and after assuming service
by the mainstream global industry suppliers.
complexity and maintenance demands. provision, subscriber’s location information
Both, however, have some weaknesses.
must be relayed via periodic registration,
1+1 Geographical Real-time N+1 Geographical Redundancy which may take more than 60 minutes.
Redundancy Solution Solution Even if subscriber’s location information is
synchronized with the independent backup
This solution utilizes two HLRs to This solution describes employing server, the disaster tolerant HLR will still take
achieve 1+1 backup. If the active HLR a geographical-redundancy HLR as a 30 minutes to upload the backup server data.
fails, the geographical-redundancy HLR backup for N active HLRs, thus requiring High network quality means high

47 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34


costs, and low costs is usually achieved at
the sacrifice of subscriber experience. This
raises two fundamental questions - are low
construction costs/OPEX and high quality
mutually exclusive? Is it possible to achieve a
win-win situation?
Building up HLR security
line
Based on a thorough understanding of
HLR geographical redundancy requirements,
Huawei has proposed its HLR N+1
Geographical Real-time Redundancy
Solution. Combining the advantages of
the two mentioned solutions, the HLR
N+1 Geographical Real-time Redundancy
Solution is capable of saving CAPEX and
OPEX without negatively impacting upon
communication quality. This radically solves
the dilemma between network quality and cost.
As Fig.1 illustrates, subscribers’ dynamic
and static data on the active HLR are
both synchronized in real time with the
geographical-redundancy HLR’s subscriber
database, and this occurs via the SS7 and
IP networks. Static data are synchronized
through the customer service center interface
including definition, deletion, service
suspension/reactivation, number changing,
card reissuing, and instructions for modifying
service subscription data. Dynamic data is
synchronized through MAP, and mainly
includes supplementary service status and
attributes, such as forwarded-to number, and
subscriber’s location information.
Dynamic data is synchronized through the SS7 network
SS7 Network
Active HLR 1
Active HLR 2
IP network
Active HLRn
Static data is synchronized through the IP network
Fig.1 N+1 Geographical Real-time Redundancy Solution
Since the synchronization of dynamic
and static data occurs in real time,
communications will not be affected if
an active HLR fails and the geographical-
redundancy HLR then adopts service
provision. Even if faced with the extreme
situation of several active HLRs’ simultaneous
failure, services will not be interrupted
because the geographical-redundancy HLR
is capable of taking over the services of
multiple active HLRs.
Not only are operators freed from all
HLR concerns, they also receive significant
financial benefits. The additional investment
required for the HLR N+1 Geographical
Real-time Redundancy Solution constitutes
only one Nth of their investment in existing
network HLRs, and the OPEX is increased
by only one Nth as well. If any active HLR
is down, the geographical-redundancy HLR
will automatically continue the services of
the failed active HLR in real time, without
any necessity for human intervention, thus
avoiding the need for 24-hour attendance
by HLR maintenance personnel. OPEX
is reduced, and network quality further
assured. Moreover, active HLRs and the
Geographical Redundancy HLR jointly
undertake subscriber data synchronization,
and no support by any other equipment is
required, thus reducing construction costs for
the geographical-redundancy HLR.
Free from worries
Mr. Vikrom Sriprataks, AIS technical
Geographical
-redundancy HLR
Static data synchronization
Dynamic data synchronization
Huawei Technologies
director from Thailand, praises the solution as
follows: “Huawei’s solution for geographical
redundancy is perfect, and quickly responding
to customers’ requirements. The technical
support experts have rich experience and can
ensure high-quality and timely delivery. This
solution really gives us peace of mind.”
AIS began to cooperate with Huawei
in 2005 when it adopted the HLR 7+1
Geographical Real-time Redundancy
Solution, covering 14 million subscribers.
With its rapid growth as a catalyst, AIS
cooperated with Huawei once again in 2006,
added 6 HLRs and used a 6+1 Geographical
Real-time Redundancy Solution. Now, the
solution covers 26 million subscribers.
To date, Huawei has ser ved more
than 130 million subscribers with HLR
geographical redundancy services. Apart from
the advanced HLR solution for geographical
redundancy, Huawei also supplies operators
with holistic services such as network
planning and legacy HLR cutover plans.
For example, in China’s developed Yangtze
Delta region, China Mobile applied the HLR
6+1 Geographical Real-time Redundancy
Solution in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. All services
were simultaneously cutover from multiple
active HLRs to the geographical-redundancy
HLR. The active HLRs were then upgraded,
after which the service data was switched
back. This achieved the successful upgrade of
China Mobile Zhejiang’s active HLRs, during
which no subscriber service was affected, thus
achieving zero subscriber awareness, further
assisting China Mobile Zhejiang to elevate its
high-end brand image.
With rapid, on-time delivery, Huawei helps
operators quickly expand their market share
and foster a competitive edge. In Sri Lanka,
the mainstream operator, Suntel, is enjoying
a rapid increase in subscriber numbers. In
order to swiftly satisfy Suntel’s requirements
for high-quality networks, Huawei
completed implementation of a geographical
redundancy solution in no more than one
month, realizing geographical redundancy
backup for existing network subscribers, and
ensuring zero service interruption.
Practice has proven that the HLR N+1
Geographical Real-time Redundancy
Solution establishes a solid and economical
security line for HLRs: it is indeed the
guardian of HLRs.
Editor: Xu Peng xupeng@huawei.com
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 48
 LEADING EDGE
Fast-developing CDMA UMB technology

Fast-developing CDMA
UMB technology
By Chen Xiuting

In August 2007, Qualcomm demonstrated the first 4G radio system in San Diego,
America: Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB). What are UMB’s technical features?
What new experiences can it deliver to customers?

Technical features OFDMA

U
MB describes the updated version of
the CDMA2000 series’ standards.
It supports 20MHz bandwidth,
enhances network scalability and
f l e x i b i l i t y, a n d d i v e r s i f i e s a n d
elevates subscriber experiences. Similar to other 4G
technologies, UMB employs advanced technologies
such as OFDMA and MIMO.
High spectrum efficiency requires interference
reduction in two major aspects: interference from
other transmitters, for example, power control and
scheduling; and self-interference, which is stimulated
by multi-path. Self-interference increases with multi-
path delay relative to signal cycle. Self-interference
severity is considerable in high-speed broadband
communications due to the high bit rate and short

49 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34


signal cycle, while the delay spread remains
the same, thus hindering spectr um
efficiency improvement.
If parallel transmission technology
is introduced into the communication
system, multiple elements can be
transmitted simultaneously. This allows
each element’s transmission cycle to be
greatly prolonged while maintaining the
same total data transmission rate. The
basic idea of OFDM technology uses
orthogonal sub-carrier groups to achieve
parallel transmission. The theoretical basis
of OFDM is Fourier theorem - any signal
can be represented by the superposition
of multiple sine waves. By modulating a
group of high-speed broadband signals
into multiple orthogonal sine transmission
waves, high-speed data flow is converted to
a multi-channel parallel orthogonal low-
speed data flow. Thus interference between
signals is eliminated. Furthermore, the
OFDM system transmits high-speed data
in parallel, greatly enhancing its ability to
protect against multi-path interference.
OFDM technology has been used
for nearly 40 years, with its inception
primarily in military radio communication
systems. In the 1950s and 1960s, the US
military created the first multi-carrier
modulation system and, the 1970s saw
the appearance of an OFDM system
that utilized large scale sub-carrier
and frequency superposition. This was
gradually and widely applied in ADSL,
DVB, wireless LANs, IEEE802.11 series,
IEEE 802.16 and IEEE 802.20. In the
1990s, the development of digital signal
processing technology allowed OFDM to
be used on IFFT’s Tx and FFT’s Rx ends
to realize modulation and demodulation.
This greatly reduced system complexity
and promoted broad OFDM application.
MIMO
In 1948, the Shannon capacity formula
defined the limits of communication
system efficiency. The maturity and
subsequent application of Turbo and
LDPC coding technologies meant that
actual systems were approaching the
Shannon limit. Methods of improving
efficiency were explored, and Multiple
In p u t Mu l t i p l e Ou t p u t ( M I M O )
technology emerged as crucial.
MIMO represents an important
technical component of 4G radio
communication systems. It achieves
holistic multi-path radio channels and
transmitting and receiving to improve
spectrum efficiency. The Tx and Rx ends
employ multiple antennas, through which
signals are transmitted and received, and
channel quality is improved.
For MIMO, the multi-path mode can
Huawei Technologies
benefit spatial gain. The multi-antenna
receiver uses space time codes to separate
and decode multiple data sub-flows
in order to optimize the signal/noise
ratio. MIMO technology effectively
utilizes spatial dimension resources
to improve a radio communication
system’s transmission capacity nth times
(propor tional to antenna numbers)
without increasing transmission power
and bandwidth. The role of MIMO is
therefore to separate the original high
SINR channel into several low SINR
channels. According to Shannon’s capacity
formula, SINR improvement can rapidly
improve spectrum efficiency at a low
SINR, but the same is not true regarding
SINR improvement at a higher SINR.
An additional and important technical
aspect of UMB is its network architecture
optimization feature. A traditional mobile
access network normally uses BSC + BTS
architecture, which involves multiple
network node layers whose signaling
interaction is complex, causing session
connection delays and elevated service
processing times.
Flat network architecture
UMB employs a flat network
architecture in which traditional
BSC functions are separated. Those
functions that are closely related to radio
transmission technology will be performed
by the BTS, while other functions will
be integrated with the access gateway.
Intermediate nodes such as BSCs will no
longer exist, and this simplifies network
hierarchy and signaling processing. Radio
network performance is greatly improved,
to some extent reducing CAPEX.
Market value
UMB system performance leads all
4G technologies. Downlink spectrum
efficiency is 3 to 4 times higher than in
3G technologies, and uplink spectrum
efficiency 2 to 3 times higher. The
flattened architecture can further reduce
air interface delays and subscriber-side
one-way delay is less than 17ms, which
remarkably improves user experience and
raises operators’ competitive strengths.
Since the subscriber data rate is improved,
OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34 50
 LEADING EDGE
Fast-developing CDMA UMB technology
the experience a single subscriber receives is
similar to that delivered by a fixed network, thus
allowing many fixed network services to be shifted
to mobile networks. This promotes FMC (Fixed
Mobile Convergence), which serves to attract more
subscribers, and the flat architecture renders network
deployment easier, thus reducing OPEX.
UMB can remain online permanently meaning
that radio and core networks can maintain continuous
sessions including PoC, Presence and other IP-based
services. Sustained 3G system sessions entail excessive
terminal power consumption and greater signaling
exchanges, compromising spectrum efficiency and
creating a much longer transition time from idle to
connected. Since UMB is unrestricted by distance,
no dedicated control channel is required to maintain
inner-loop power control balance. All services and
control channels are shared, and single terminals are
in dormant state in the absence of data transmission,
thus reducing terminal power consumption and
uplink interference. Simplified signaling and shorter
transmission gaps enable status transition to be
completed in 50-100 ms, greatly expediting system
response.
UMB not only improves communication
efficiency, but also enables subscribers to enjoy more
diversified and personalized services such as E-mail,
IM, social, networking, blogging and User Generated
Content (UGC). Commercial services are facilitated
including browsing, searches, location management,
information exchange, purchasing and banking, as
are a range of entertainment multimedia services, for
example, IPTV, Content/Multimedia, VOD and on-
line gaming.
Standardization: the status quo
In September 2007, 3GPP2 announced the
official release of UMB 2.0 in San Diego,
USA, which marked the industry’s
first 4G technical standard.
The development of
51 OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34
the UMB standard can be traced back two years. In
March 2005, 3GPP2 began preparing CDMA/EV-
DO air interface technology evolution. From March
to June 2006, a number of companies submitted
their protocol framework proposals to 3GPP2. By
August 2006, these were successfully combined to
form a unified protocol framework proposal. In
February 2007, UMB standard parameters were
largely completed, and in April and September
2007, two protocol versions were released. As a
completely new air interface technology system,
UMB standardization took only two years from
initiation to version release. This can be attributed to
close cooperation between the 3GPP2 team’s major
participants.
UMB therefore possesses Time to Market (TTM)
advantages and as the first standardized 4G system,
UMB is expected to become the first commercialized
4G technology. CDG predicts that the UMB
commercial system can be widely deployed in early
2009.
Promising future
Huawei established its professional 4G R&D
team early in 2005. At the research centers in
its Shenzhen head office and America’s Silicon
Valley, over 100 influential telecom scientists and
engineers are involved in UMB standardization.
Currently Huawei’s technical experts assume many
important leadership positions in the 3GPP2 group,
including vice chairperson of the TSG-C team,
which is responsible for air interface technology
standardization.
After a sustained, long-term effort, Huawei,
C h i n a Un i c o m , t h e R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e f o r
Telecommunications Transmission, and other
Chinese manufacturers submitted a framework
proposal for UMB air inter face technology
evolution to 3GPP2 in June, 2006. This represents
the first time that Chinese manufacturers have
presented a complete framework proposal to
3GPP2. Thereafter, Huawei submitted a complete
UMB simulation result to 3GPP2, which marked
another unprecedented step. Two years of efforts
have culminated in multiple Huawei-patented
technologies being accepted by the UMB standard.
According to initial statistics, Huawei possesses 14%
of the core patents in the UMB sector, describing
a historical breakthrough. Huawei’s outstanding
performance in UMB standardization has been
widely recognized by the industry and will contribute
to UMB’s likely future: the provision of enriched,
diversified and exciting consumer experiences.
Editor: Liu Zhonglin liuzhonglin@huawei.com
 Huawei Technologies

OCTOBER 2007 . ISSUE 34