fierce back haul

8/9/2019 Fierce Back Haul

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By now theres no doubt about it: mobileoperators need to get their backhaul networksin condition to meet the burgeoning market oranytime, anywhere data access.

Backhaul, once considered the humdrum sideo an operators network, has become the topicdu jour now that the mobile phone customershave shi ted to smartphones and are takingadvantage o data-hungry services in a big way.Earlier this month, AT&T reported that its wire-less data tra c has grown more than 5,000

percent over the past three years, largely due tosmartphones, which are used by about 40 per-cent o its post-paid customer base. All operators

have to contend with this growth, and quickly:smartphones should represent the vast major-ity (65%) o phones sold in the country by 2012,according to Creative Strategies, an analyst rm.

Operators are taking steps to prepare theirnetworks to meet the expected demand, and theprocess o identi ying speci c backhaul needsand con guring the best solutions will orcecompanies to bring the backhaul problem to the

ore ront o their in rastructure and businessplanning. This is a closer look at the available

options and considerations operators must keepin mind as they prepare to build out this part otheir networks.

CONTENTS

2The Practica ity ofHybrid Bac haNetwor s

3The Intricaciesof Assessing

Bac ha Options

4Ethernet Wi He p

Cric et Hand eData Bac ha

De and

5Sprint: Good DataSer ice Req ires

Bac haP anning

6CFN: So ing

Bac haCha enges

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Con guring a mobile network or back-haul services would be a whole lot simpler

or operators i a single technology choicecould be used to connect every cell site tothe wired network. That may have beenthe case when copper was the primaryoption, but its not the situation anymore.

Today, operators intent on bringing inhigh-capacity backhaul to their 3G and4G networks are pursuing Ethernet-based ber and microwave options, but

no operator can pursue one approach tothe exclusion o the other. Each cell sitehas its own particular location-speci ctechnology and business variables thatmay orce the use o a certain approachover the other, regardless o the opera-tors technology pre erences or businessobjectives. This variability adds layers ocomplexity to the backhaul planning andimplementation process and orces alloperators to adopt a hybrid approach.

Each approach also introduces its own

business models. Fiber, or example, iswidely viewed as the avored option, butit requires costly capital expendituresand ongoing leasing ees when opera-tors dont own the assets, and it can be aheadache to deploy to certain locations.Microwave can be easier and less costlyto deploy and an operator adding thisto the network can decide to own themicrowave links, which eliminates the

ees associated with leased lines.

While ber is pre erred by mostoperators in North America, even thetier-one operators like AT&T Mobilityand Verizon Wireless, whose parentcompanies have ber assets, are notalways able to make use o the compa-ny technology to backhaul their wirelessnetworks. And Clearwire, which optedto deploy and own its own microwavetransmissions to backhaul its WiMAXnetwork, has had to use other approach-es or a small raction o its cell sites.

Traditional hesitancy over microwavein North America may be changingsome now with the advent o 4G, whichwill require high-capacity backhaul tomeet mobile broadband data needs, arequirement that microwave can meet.Verizon, or example, has said that it willuse microwave where necessary to aug-ment its ber backhaul network whenit deploys LTE, though ber will be itsprimary choice.

Microwave is picking up traction.According to Emmy Johnson, princi-pal analyst and ounder o Sky LightResearch, North America saw a 43%growth in the microwave backhaulmarket in the ourth quarter o 2009.The overall market growth or theapproach was 3% or the calendar

year. Clearwire is logically a driver omuch o that growth.While a service provider will typically

establish a policy or the backhaul solu-tion it would pre er or its individual cellsites, the regional arms o the businessgenerally need the latitude to select

rom approved alternatives i necessaryto meet local conditions. The local man-agement will thus be able to choose thetechnology or the physical connectivitylayer as long as the alternative con-

orms to the operators operational andbusiness support systems and layers

The local management will be able tochoose the technology or the physicalconnectivity layer as long as the alternativecon orms to the operators operationaland business support systems and layers2, 3 and 4 o the network architecture.JENNIFER PIGG, vICE PRESIDENT, THE YANkEE GROuP

The Practicality oHybrid Backhaul NetworksBy FierceWireless


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Mobile operators are being orced toincrease their backhaul capacity to servethe skyrocketing demand or 3G datatra c and the many new mobile dataservices that will be o ered on orth-coming 4G networks. While selectingbackhaul options might have been acut-and-dried, technology-driven pro-cess a ew years ago, today it is more acomplicated and even strategic process,

raught with intricate business and com-petitive considerations.

Already, even though the business omobile data is in its in ancy, data tra con 3G networks now generates morethan 30 percent o service revenues orthe top three mobile operators in the

U.S., yet the backhaul used to servemost o this tra c was deployed whenvoice was the main reason or busi-ness. While operators need to upgradetheir backhaul to meet the data needstheyre struggling to serve today, theyalso need high-capacity backhaul inplace to meet the onslaught o datathat will be unleashed when 4G cellularnetworks come online. Generally, theywill move to Ethernet-based ber andmicrowave solutions.

An operator assessing backhauloptions needs to wrestle with three

strategic business issues: preservingtheir existing assets, deploying a solutionthat will unction or the network or thenext several years, and nally and mostimportantly, meeting the demand ormobile data services. The new solutionmust do all this and at the lowest pos-sible cost, according to Jenni er Pigg,vice president at the Yankee Group.

The decisions are not necessarilyclear-cut. For example, an operator thathas existing microwave solutions might

consider leveraging these legacy assetsby adding capacity to meet near termneeds, or it might want to switch to ahigher-capacity solution that has bet-ter ability to meet uture demand. Anoperator that has existing ber assets,on the other hand, with enough capacityin place to meet mobile data demands

or the next several years, may not haveber installed everywhere it needs it and

will need to identi y backhaul solutionsor the remaining sites.

Identi ying the backhaul solutionthat is best or the business ultimatelybecomes a cell site-by-cell site decision.Each site will be served on the basis ahost o variables including local tra c

needs, mobile data market potential, the

ready availability o ber or microwaveor the physical practicalities and costs oinstalling either, or perhaps a desire tocontinue to use T-1s over copper whereconditions permit. On top o all that,the operator will need to decide whichassets it wants to own or lease and towhat extent it is willing to partner with acompetitor or access services. As muchas a mobile operator may strive to or-mulate a uni ed strategy or their entirenetwork, it may not be possible.

Even a ter a vendor wins an RFP theymight nd that the regional branches othe operator are likely to select their ownbackhaul solutions due to local con-cerns, Pigg said.

Considering the competition or cus-tomers in the saturated mobile marketand the increasingly savvy market base,operators must per orm through duediligence to select the best options.With annual mobile data needs in theU.S. reaching into the tens o exabytesby 2014, according to industry expertChetan Sharma, mobile operators willhave to plan accordingly, and appropri-

ately, to meet these uture needs.l

The Intricacies o Assessing Backhaul OptionsBy FierceWireless

Even a ter a vendor wins an RFP they might fnd that the regional branches othe operator are likely to select their ownbackhaul solutions due to local concerns.JENNIFER PIGG, vICE PRESIDENT, THE YANkEE GROuP


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Right now most o Crickets 5 million-plus subscribers havent really started toconnect to a data plan. The carrier has agenerous all-you-can-eat o ering, CricketBroadband, which provides unlimitedhigh-speed wireless Internet access at afat rate with service plans ranging rom$35 to $50 a month but its limited bythe act that the Leap Wireless companyhas not jumped into the smartphonebusiness with both eet.

To use Cricket Broadband or e -mail,Web sur ng, video and other activities,

subscribers use data cards with theirPCs or laptops. Even with a customerdemographic that skews to the youngside and send and receive more than1,300 text messages per month, thatsnot a network buster.

Things will change dramatically,

however, when the fat-rate unlimitedwireless service carrier ramps up itssmartphone o erings because the mainreason any subscriber buys a smartphoneis access data and that, in turn, stretchesthe limits o the wireless network.

An iPhone uses 800 megabits amonth, maybe 900 or even a gigabit. Atypical smartphone will use 600 to 700

megabits per month, depending on theapplications you have on there. It willstrain everything, said Dan Gra , SeniorDirector o Backhaul Interconnect andRoaming or the Leap Wireless company.

Gra has been making sure that whenthe data ramps the acilities-based car-

riers backhaul will be available to handleit. He, like most o the industry, hasheard the horror stories o data overuse

reezing mobile networks and plans to bewell ready when the onslaught arrives.

Ethernet technology will help thebackhaul, he said.

New Ethernet technology with newpricing will help Cricket.

I can get a 10 megabit Ethernetpipe or $900 but I can get 100 mega-bits Ethernet or $100 more than that,$150 more than that , said Gra . Itscales very well as that industry real-izes and moves towards an IP-basedbackhaul network.

More than likely that Ethernet connec-tion will come rom a LEC. Most likely itwill come over ber, despite some otheroptions such as bonded copper that havebeen suggested to get the ball rolling andthe backhaul growing.

Bonded copper, Gra said, is a short-

term thing. Its too complicated and Idont think you get enough bandwidth.Fiber is the way to go.

Despite what you might have beenreading about the a ordability o cableoperators in the backhaul, LECs are leastexpensive way to go, he continued.

Verizon is ahead o the game; AT&T iscatching up, he said.

And cable?The cable operators really are in an

environment where they could makea killing but they dont, he said. Wepriced out the cable companies and

theyre always way too expensive, twiceas much as the LECs. You talk to themand they get you all excited and then atthe end youre bummed because theydont deliver on what they promise.

Gra s goal is to make sure thatCricket subscribers, when they buythose smartphones or even when theystart to overuse their data cards, wontget bummed.

Ethernet, he emphasized, is theway to go. l

Bonded copper, is a short-term thing. Itstoo complicated and I dont think you getenough bandwidth. Fiber is the way to go.

DAN GRAF, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF BACkHAul INTERCONNECT AND ROAmING, lEAP WIRElESS

Ethernet WillHelp CricketHandle DataBackhaul DemandAs dAtA rAm ps up,cricket s reAdy For it

By FierceWireless

mORE THAN lIkElY THATETHERNET CONNECTIONWIll COmE FROm A lEC.mOST lIkElY IT WIll COmEOvER FIBER, DESPITE SOmE

OTHER OPTIONS SuCH ASBONDED COPPER THAT HAvEBEEN SuGGESTED TO GETTHE BAll ROllING ANDTHE BACkHAul GROWING.


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I you want to tirelessly promoteyour high-speed data packages its agood idea to make sure you can handlethe new tra c that comes along witho ering the latest data devices and appli-cations that tap the Internet.

Thats a condensed version o thephilosophy driving Sprint rom its 3Gvoice networks to 3G data and eventuallyto 4G with Clearwire. Every step o thenetwork must be planned and capacityset aside or uture use, said Iyad Tarazi,Sprints network vice president.

We constantly run planning exercises(because) theres no substitute or goodengineering at the end o the day, hesaid. You have to look at all o your ele-ments and trend out the next year, twoyears, three years.

For instance, Sprint can anticipatemore bandwidth-intensive data tra c

rom application-centric Android deviceusers moving BlackBerries. And as 4Gaccess becomes available more custom-ers will certainly take advantage o asterspeeds and greater depth o mobilewireless applications, Tarazi continued.

Both those actors needed to be takeninto account when planning or networksand backhaul.

Data is happening, he said. Youhave to put it in your plans and you needthe capacity in the network at the timeyou see tra c coming. Its not magic.

That doesnt mean its easy. As Tarazipoints out, the vast majority o cell loca-

tions are not connected to any sort ohigh-speed backhaul networks and evenwhere they are, they tend to be expensive.

Its important that the last milenetwork develops to be more open andmore accessible to all carriers becausewireless continues to be quite depen-dent on that last-mile solution, he said.

Sprint, he said, will deal with anyone

to backhaul its tra c over ber, twistedpair or even bonded copper connections.But in the many places where none o

those options are available, the companysees microwave as the best alternative.In act, he said, microwave is Sprintsgo-to method o backhauling tra cwhen working with Clearwire on theintegration o 3G and 4G networks.

The microwave technology thatsavailable today is as good as ber rom aper ormance perspective, he insisted.The upgradability is very similar towhat you see in ber where you justchange out electronics or add licensesto expand capacity.

Microwave prices have also droppedas eatures are added so such as the

ability to be deployed in rings that makeit even more attractive, he said.When people think o microwave

they think o the big old dishes, veryexpensive. The technology has comealong tremendously just as ber hasimproved, he said.

When you think o Sprint you probablyalso think o cable, since the two areallied in the Clearwire initiative. Sprintworks more closely with the cable indus-try than any wireless carrier and is notshy about tapping on its cable pals orbackhaul help.

Weve done trials with them and a loto work with them, Tarazi said, pointingto the bene ts o cable latest generationo Ethernet backhaul technology.

It is, he said, just one more bit o gluethat holds together the carriers 3G and4G data plans.

Sometimes a trend catches you bysurprise, but i you do the proper engi-neering you ought to always be able tochange the timing o your plans insteado starting rom scratch, he said. l

Sprint: Good Data Service Requires Backhaul PlanningBy FierceWireless

Its important that the last milenetwork develops to be more openand more accessible to all carriersbecause wireless continues to be quitedependent on that last-mile solution.IYAD TARAzI, SPRINTS NETWORk vICE PRESIDENT


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o ber routes, access to 25,000 datacenters and lit buildings, Fiber Proxim-ity data on more then 200,00 0 wirelesssites and 80,000 tower and roo topcollocations sites and provides in orma-tion on over 20,000 central o ce andwire centers.

Knowledge o existing backhaul assetscan be a huge advantage to a wire-less carrier in the process o selectingand negotiating with ethernet backhaulproviders. CFN leads the industry withthe expertise, relationships, and toolsnecessary to equip wireless carriers with

this key advantage. Integrated Design,Acquisition and Backhaul in the planningphase or all network upgrade and/or

development allows CFN to o er manyadvantages to cost, increased time tomarket and improved e ciency o the

nal design. Working with the ecosys-tem partners in CFN Wireless Jumpstartprovides a portal to help bring all thepieces together. Combine that with aCFN Managed Core In rastructure andyou are o to a winning strategy. l

Technologies such as WiMax, LTE,4G and HSPA are driving much highercapacity rom the base station back tothe ber core and demanding ethernetconnectivity to enable new broadbandservices. This is putting extreme pres-sure on providers current backhaulnetworks and requiring new networkproviders entering new markets toreally quali y their backhaul strategy andensure it has the ability or growth with-out decreasing margins. Revenue per bitis going down and in order or a wirelessprovider to stay solvent their cost mustsimultaneously ollow suit. I a carrieris not meeting the demands o theirbackhaul they risk customer churn anddeclining revenues. To avoid this trap, awireless provider must plan accordinglyor sometimes rework their networkstrategy mid-course. Proper planningcan mean the di erence between suc-cess ul backhaul strategies that optimize

spend through the backhaul li ecycle, orone that drives increasing per unit cost.CFN Services has launched WirelessJumpstart as an ecosystem o provid-ers ocusing on wireless in rastructureranging rom site and network planning,acquisition, implementation,backhaul,and ongoing cost and per ormanceoptimization. Combining integratedplanning along with a CFN managedcore in rastructure provides shorterdeployment time- rames, reduced li e-cycle costs, and creates important neweconomic e ciencies.

CFN Managed Core In rastructure

takes advantage o economies o scalealong with custom design to optimizethe backhaul network. CFN is a carrierneutral provider customizing solutionsutilizing optimal spans rom multiplecarriers to develop the best hybrid coresolution or the wireless providers. Whilea given ethernet backhaul provider cantypically reache 70% o a wireless car-riers sites, CFNs expertise and uniquecustomization o the ber core canensure the backhaul solution reaches

all sites. Cost is o course a major ac-tor in the backhaul design where o tentimes ethernet backhaul providers mustconstruct ber to the carriers sites.There ore, its very important or thewireless carrier to understand up rontjust how much construction the back-haul provider must undertake, whichultimately impacts schedule, cost, scale,and term commitments o the solution.

Getting all sites onto the core o ers awireless provider the ability to managecost while growing capacity, and pro-

vides control over their backhaul growth.Ensuring the right choices up ront keepsthe carrier competitive and preventscostly rework. CFN can bring togethermicrowave along with a combination odark and lit ber. Customized core solu-tions rom CFN ensure the provider theability to know all the options availablewhen choosing the best solution or theirshort term and long term requirements.

How does CFN have the ability toquickly identi y the available ber andbring together customized solutions?The answer is the intelligence, wel-

come to FiberSource

. FiberSource

is the industrys best and most com-prehensive telecom in rastructureknowledge-base tool. For emergingmobile broadband providers, CFNsFiberSource Access o ering speedswireless distribution and hub site plan-ning with an optimal mix o wirelessand wireline backhaul transport byleveraging high capacity wireless hubsites served with ber acilities. Fiber-Source contains access to 550 GlobalCarrier Fiber Networks, 350,000+ miles

Getting all sites onto the core o ers awireless provider the ability to managecost while growing capacity, and providescontrol over their backhaul growth.

CFN: SolvingBackhaul Challenges

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