MTN Ghana

2nd Carrier Strategies

Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa
22th April , 2012
Introduction

 As a 2nd carrier strategy is carried out for MTN Ghana, we

are reviewing strategies implemented in other networks in
order not to reinvent the wheel and to learn on how 2nd
carrier has been implemented in other networks.

 In this report , we are going to review the 2nd carrier

strategy used in MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa.

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 2
MTN Nigeria - Strategy

R99+HS F2

R99+HS R99+HS R99+HS F1

2G 2G 2G

 The strategy used by MTN Nigeria is to have R99+HS/EUL on both carriers and to strive to
distribute traffic evenly between the two carriers.

 Both carriers are thus handling R99 and HS/EUL traffic.

 Idle mode parameters are set in such a way to make the UEs camp on either carrier and to
balance traffic on both carriers in idle mode.

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MTN Nigeria – Idle Mode – Cell Selection/Reselection

Cell Selection/Reselection

UEs to camp on either F1 or F2 on

Idle Mode.
R99+HS F2

R99+HS R99+HS R99+HS F1

2G 2G 2G

 UEs are allowed to camp on either F1 or F2 and reselect any cell (F1, F2 or 2G).

 Strive to balance traffic on idle mode by tuning idle mode parameters.

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 4
MTN Nigeria – Idle Mode - Parameters

F1   F2    
parameter value parameter value comment
Want only UE with good RSCP to
qRxLevMin -118 qRxLevMin -115 camp
Want only UE with good EcNo to
qQualMin -18 qQualMin -15 camp
EcNo is better to measure network
Idle/FACH

qualMeasQuantity 2(EcNo) qualMeasQuantity 2(EcNo) quality than RSCP

qOffset1sn 0 qOffset1sn 0  
qOffset2sn 0 qOffset2sn 0  
sInterSearch same as F1 sInterSearch same as F1  
sIntraSearch same as F1 sIntraSearch same as F1  
sRatSearch same as F1 sRatSearch same as F1  
qHyst2 same as F1 qHyst2 same as F1  

interFreqFddMeasI interFreqFddMeasI
ndicator 1(TRUE) ndicator 1(TRUE)  

 UEs are allowed to camp on either F1 or F2 and reselect any cell (F1, F2 or 2G).

 Strive to balance traffic on idle mode by tuning idle mode parameters (qRxLevMin , qQualMin and qOffset2sn ).

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 5
MTN Nigeria – Neighbor Strategy
One Way Neighbor relation F2->F1
except on collocated where it is both
ways .
F2-F1 Relation

R99+HS F2 F1-2G Relation

ifho_Preferred
F1-F1 Relation

R99+HS R99+HS R99+HS F1

Gsm_Preferred Gsm_Preferred Gsm_Preferred

One Way Neighbor relation F2->2G on

a case by case basis.

2G 2G 2G

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 6
MTN Nigeria – IFHO - Parameters

Utrancell RNC
parameter value parameter value

HoType
usedFreqThresh2dEcno
usedFreqThresh2dRscp
 
 
 
 
 
 
F1(gsm_Preferred),
F2(ifho_Preferred) FddIfHoSupp  
F1(-13), F2(-10) IFHOAllowed  
F1(-100), F2(-95) usedFreqRelThresh2fEcNo  
  usedFreqRelThresh2fRscp  
  nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bEcno  
  nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bRscp  
  nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2bEcno  
  nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2bRscp  
  hyst4_2b  

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MTN Nigeria – Conclusion

 The 2nd carrier strategy adopted by MTN Nigeria is to have

R99+HS/EUL on both carriers.

 Traffic is equally balanced between the two layers.

 In order to achieve that, UEs are allowed to camp on either

carrier and to strive to balance traffic equally between the
two layers on idle mode by tuning idle mode parameters
(qRxLevMin , qQualMin and qOffset2sn).

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 8
MTN South Africa - Strategy

R99+HS F2

R99+HS R99 R99+HS F1

2G 2G 2G

 The strategy used by MTN South Africa is to have R99 Only on F1 and R99+HS/EUL on F2.

 With this strategy, R99 traffic will stay on F1 while HS/EUL traffic is pushed to F2.

 Idle mode parameters are set in such a way to make the UEs camp on F1 only.

 At call initiation, R99 Users will stay on F1 while HS users will be directed to F2 through the
cell Selection feature.

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 9
MTN South Africaa – Idle Mode – Cell Selection/Reselection

Cell Selection/Reselection

UEs to only camp on F1 on Idle

Mode.
R99+HS F2

R99+HS R99 R99+HS F1

2G 2G 2G

 UEs are allowed to only camp on F1 on idle mode.

 UE will only reselect to any F1 or 2G cell .

 All UEs camping on F1 allow a better steering of HS traffic to F2 and keep R99 traffic on F1.
Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 10
MTN South Africa – Idle Mode - Parameters

F1   F2    
parameter value parameter value comment

qRxLevMin -115 qRxLevMin -115

qQualMin -18 qQualMin -18

Idle/FACH

qualMeasQuantity 2(EcNo) qualMeasQuantity 2(EcNo)

qOffset1sn 0 qOffset1sn 0  
qOffset2sn 50 qOffset2sn -50 F2->F1 
sInterSearch same as F1 sInterSearch same as F1  
sIntraSearch same as F1 sIntraSearch same as F1  
sRatSearch same as F1 sRatSearch same as F1  
qHyst2 same as F1 qHyst2 same as F1  

interFreqFddMeasI interFreqFddMeasI
ndicator 1(TRUE) ndicator 1(TRUE)  

 UEs are allowed to camp on F1 only and reselect any cell (F1, F2 or 2G).

 With this strategy, R99 traffic will stay on F1 while HS/EUL traffic is pushed to F2 using Cell Selection Feature.

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 11
 MTN South Africa - HS/EUL settings

F1     F2     RNC    
parameter value comment parameter value comment parameter value comment
Hsdpa disabled   Hsdpa enabled HsToDchTrigger FALSE   
HsOnlyBestCell FALSE   HsOnlyBestCell FALSE .poorQualityDetected -  
HS/EUL

HsPathLossThreshold 170    HsPathLossThreshold -    .changeOfBestCellIntraRnc TRUE  

CoverageIndicator 1    CoverageIndicator  -   .serHsChangeIntraRnc TRUE  
EUL disabled   EUL enabled         

sIntraSearch -   sIntraSearch -       

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 12
MTN South Africa – Neighbor Strategy
One Way Neighbor relation F2->F1
except on collocated where it is both
ways .
F2-F1 Relation

R99+HS F2 F1-2G Relation

ifho_Preferred
F1-F1 Relation

R99+HS R99 R99+HS F1

Gsm_Preferred Gsm_Preferred Gsm_Preferred

One Way Neighbor relation F2->2G on

a case by case basis.

2G 2G 2G

Strategies for 2nd Carrier - Examples from MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa – MTN Ghana | 2012-0422 | Page 13
MTN South Africa – IFHO Parameters

Utrancell RNC
parameter value parameter value

HoType
usedFreqThresh2dEcno
usedFreqThresh2dRscp
 
 
 
 
 
 
F1(gsm_Preferred),
F2(ifho_Preferred) FddIfHoSupp  
F1(-13), F2(-12) IFHOAllowed  
F1(-100), F2(-110) usedFreqRelThresh2fEcNo  
  usedFreqRelThresh2fRscp  
  nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bEcno  
  nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bRscp  
  nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2bEcno  
  nonUsedFreqRelThresh4_2bRscp  
  hyst4_2b  

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  MTN South Africa HS Mobility - Issue (UEs moving from a Non Second
Carrier site to a Second Carrier Site)

No F1->F2 relations allowed

R99+HS F2
On Non 2nd carrier sites
Preventing IFHO for HS Selection
HS from F1->F2 feature
Incoming
HS UE R99 R99+HS F1
R99+HS

HS UE dragging the call

DwSw to R99 Till the next non 2nd
carrier site. HS Call may
drop or survive
depending on the
density of F1 sites

 In this strategy, a special case arises when an incoming HS user is moving from UEs moving from a Non Second
Carrier site to a Second Carrier Site .

 The HS UE will either Down Switch to R99 or dragg the call till the next non 2nd carrier site depending on the value
of hsToDchTrigger been set to TRUE or FALSE.

 HS Call may drop or survive depending on the density of F1 sites .

 This is a potential issue as this will degrade the throughput .

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 MTN South Africa HS Mobility Issue (UEs moving from a Non Second
Carrier site to a Second Carrier Site)

F1->F2 relations should be

Allowed between
the 1st tier Non 2nd carrier
R99+HS F2
Cells and the 2nd carrier Cell.
HS Selection
feature

R99+HS R99 R99+HS F1

 In order to provide smooth mobility for UEs on HS Call and avoid interruption of the
Throughput when moving from a from Non Second Carrier site to Second Carrier Site,
 F1->F2 relations between the 1st tier Non 2nd carrier Cells and the 2nd carrier Cell to
allow IF HO from F1 to F2 while on HS.
 With IF/IRAT mobility on HS activated, the threshold settings of event 2d and event
2b needs to be tuned (serviceOffset2dEcno and serviceOffset2dRscp) to avoid
unnecessary compressed mode periods and also that the UE leaves HSDPA channel
while still experiencing high throughput.

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