A network operator’s life is never an easy one. New subscriber adoption rates are down, but the existing subscribers’ hunger for costly-to-deliver data services is up. Margins go down, yet the pressure from regulators on policing these margins goes up. And while the expected infrastructure costs required to support emerging data services keep rising, so the customers’ willingness to pay for these services just falls. Who, then, would be a network operator, asks Frazer Bennett?

Commentators have observed for some time that the traditional business model through which network operators have demonstrated past success is unlikely to sustain them in the future. Although long aware that value-added services must be embraced to derive value from their precious, and costly network, operators have remained perplexed, turn-on-turn, by the emerging models that internet companies, and more recently emergent handset vendors, have created to realise such services.
Prompted by these and many other pressures, a new value-chain for mobile is emerging. And, despite what many may say, we believe that this new value-chain represents great opportunity for the incumbent network operators to realise new sources of value. If they get it right, they can win hands-down.

But the combination of having to deal with existing operational pressures, whilst embracing ongoing change leaves network operators with questions about focus. Where should they focus their energies?

Two key insights
We offer a couple of insights into two areas that must be at the forefront of an operator’s thinking as this new value-chain emerges (at the forefront of its thinking, yes, but also at the forefront of its planning, and its actions).

First, options for the network operator’s cost model continue to change and must continue to be considered. Outsourcing and/or sharing of network services should make the prospect of adopting new infrastructure more palatable – should help to control costs. But finding the most effective approach is not that simple.

Second, the new value-chain sees the consumer placed right at the centre – at the centre and expecting more freedom, not shepherded or shielded by any one party and particularly not the network operator. Many expect that this central positioning of the consumer will be rewarded by a much greater amount of their spend being on, or through, the mobile platform. But how can the operator capture this value

The new cost model
The days when a business could compete based on its facilities – its tangible infrastructure – are gone. Infrastructure is not a direct revenue generator and is no longer a customer attractor. This comes as no surprise. The histories of the provision of many essential services – electricity, gas, even roads – have followed a similar path. What starts as a unique differentiator, an almost monopolistic asset, becomes – as a result of both innovation and regulation – a very costly component of a heavily service-centred industry.

But infrastructure is an asset that can be shared. A variety of operating models have emerged to enable network operators to exploit, and drive greater efficiency out of, this infrastructure through sharing or outsourcing in one form or other.

For a typical network operator, infrastructure and operations IT costs represent 45% of operating expense and 75% of capital expense. So the potential cost savings are sizeable. It’s no surprise that network outsourcing and network sharing have become commonplace.

But the decision about whether a network operator should outsource or not, and the appropriate outsourcing model it should employ, remains a complex one. From site-sharing to RAN sharing, through real-estate outsourcing to full operational service outsourcing, the spectrum of options demands careful, and ongoing analysis. The trick is to find balance across cost saving and risk whilst focusing on competitive positioning. There is no one-size-fits-all.

Technology changes also impact outsourcing decisions. The advent of the all-IP RAN, and the rise of the femtocell (and indeed the potential need for much smaller femto-like cells to meet future data-service-level requirements) are two examples here. Operators are looking to these technologies to drive down operating costs over all, and in particular to make the provision of higher quality data-centric services more cost-effective. In their infancy, should innovations like these be managed internally by the network operator, or can they be trusted to third-parties to exploit them as much as possible?

Novel infrastructure architectures – encouraged by the all-IP RAN – should make inter-changeability of infrastructure components more straightforward. Further, they should enable an easier translation of internet-centred content onto mobile infrastructure. But, once again, is this something that needs to be driven from the core service-offering of an operator, or can it be left to third-party service providers to manage? Once again, there is no rule book and no standard formula here.

Embrace Openness
RAN sharing and network outsourcing make it possible for network operators to focus on the thing that they need to do best – the thing that demands their focus more than any other. Our second observation on focus for network operators in the new value chain is the need to be engaging, enchanting and to keep the customer.

The need to keep happy customers is hardly an insight in itself, and certainly not something that arises as a novelty in a transforming value chain. But when we consider how customers’ expectations of the mobile network have changed – and they have changed much faster than the network operator’s ability to meet them – we can see that a new approach is necessary. A new approach is both necessary and, we believe, possible.

Control
As has been widely observed, network operators were traditionally afraid of the loss of control that new service models and ‘open’ platforms might cause. This is the so-called ‘dumb pipe’ threat – the fear that a network operator’s value proposition might erode to being one of mere bit provision.

The mid-1990s saw an explosion of fledgling Internet companies – all born with ‘free’ bit-provision underneath them. The network was an assumed, and essentially free, resource. The challenge for these new companies was to devise monetization models for any service offering or application that they might come up with to ride over that network.

Mobile network operators, on the other hand, had a well tested monetization model from the outset. However, this model presumed, and indeed required, a great degree of control over the end customer. Control over applications, content, and delivery model. Today it is exactly this control which has been, and we believe must be, eroded for network operators to capture most value.

Early ventures into openness, relinquishing the fist of control, resulted in frustration and, largely, failure. “Open access” meant walled gardens, operator-selected applications enabling third parties to have a relationship directly with the operator, but not with the customer. This lead to considerable frustration all round. As Juniper Research observed in 2008: “the level of control exerted by mobile operators rankles with, and exasperates, the content providers (In) an environment not necessarily conducive to the introduction and mass-adoption of innovative mobile services…operators are, after all, mobile specialists and not content specialists”.

But the dumb-pipe fear is unfounded. This pipe has never been the most valuable asset that the network operator owns. Rather, it is the relationship with the customer that matters most. No wonder that it is this asset that has been under attack from handset vendors and, increasing, software vendors in recent years. They too prize it greatly.

And here’s the surprise. In order to keep this most valuable of assets, in order to extract most value from it, the network operator should open up the customer relationship as widely as possible – open it to providers of new services, applications, and indeed platforms. We believe this openness can be brought about without fear of loss of control, without fear of loss of income.

Four levels of openness
To help clarify what openness means in this context, consider this simple model. We introduce four levels of openness that a network operator could adopt in his relationship with customers and third-party content/application providers.

In the first level, ‘doing it all ourselves’, a completely closed world is presented – one in which the network operator is sole arbiter of the content that the consumer can reach. Original mobile data access models were like this, and the ill-fated ‘walled garden’ approach is one such example. In reality, the network operator is giving up no control, and there is no openness here.

At the second level, operators can choose to license out certain aspects of the user experience to be under the control of third parties. Search, and perhaps advertising or gaming-platforms, are examples here. In the case of search, customers have certain expectations of search brand that might have in fact forced operators to open up this experience. Operating at this level, operators have generated licensing revenue and the customer’s choice has been restricted only in a small number of areas, but restricted it remains.

The third level sees the connection with the customer being opened up, unrestricted, to web-based services through a browser. Third-parties are no longer obliged to have a relationship with the operator, and can engage directly in the provision of such services. With the exception of ‘appstore’ models (which we touch on next) this is arguably the current state of things, and the one that customers are accustomed to through their use of wireline internet connections. It is understandable that it is this third level that has left network operators fearful of contracting ‘dumb-pipe syndrome’.

But it’s the fourth level that will liberate them. It’s the fourth level that will enable network operators and content providers alike to capture value from the relationship with the customer. This level of openness acknowledges the additional value that the network operator holds in the relationship with the customer through the information it holds – all manner of information about usage, address book, history, location, service level, all manner of second-order data about user behaviour.

By opening up this information – and providing a service delivery platform through which third parties can exploit and reach the customer with services built around it, network operators make themselves more attractive to third-party providers and customers alike. The fourth level entails the network operator identifying, capturing and exploiting the real value that they carry because of their unique relationship with the customer.

Why would this help network operators succeed in capturing more value? And how does this help them to retain customers?

First, note that opening up information of this kind will enable new services and applications to be developed. Network operators can’t determine what will succeed a priori, nor should they try to. In an open world, the customer will be able to determine which are valuable and which aren’t. By opening service and application delivery up, and by augmenting application content with operator-derived data, the developers and customers themselves will determine what’s valuable and what’s not. Innovation is about creating an environment in which others can innovate, and sharing the reward with them.

Second, only an open world of this kind will enable the customers themselves to create the value. Value is the stuff that customers leave behind. In a closed world there is little scope for customers to do this, but in an open world the options are much greater. Think of the value that Amazon holds through its 9 million book reviews and more than 200 million book ratings. All left by customers. So, too, the three billion photos that are hosted by Flickr. Given the chance, customers will create their own value, leave it behind, and be very likely to return to it.

Conclusions
As technology changes, regulatory pressure and customer expectation forces change across the value chain. We can be sure that things will not stand still. But with such an historically strong position, and the all-important direct relationship with the customer, network operators can undoubtedly turn such change to their advantage.

Controlling cost through judicious use of network sharing, and service outsourcing, must be consistent with a broader strategy. But when effective, the 45% operating costs of maintaining infrastructure can be kept in check.

But the most valuable asset is the direct relationship with the customer, and as internet models have shown, openness is what will strengthen this relationship and create more value for operators – and third-parties – in the future. Being open in the service delivery model, and encouraging innovation by opening APIs, will attract both developers and customers and keep them hooked.

About the author

Frazer Bennett is a Consultant in Communication and Electronic Systems, PA Consulting Group. www.paconsulting.com He can be contacted via tel +44 (0)1763 267492 or email:  innovation@paconsulting.com

Comfone deploys flexible next-generation IP-based signaling solutions to advance the reach of  their network.

QUESTION:
To stay competitive in today’s business environment, Comfone faces the continuing challenge of expanding their reach to new operators.  What do you see as some of the hurdles that operators face today as they look to reduce their roaming coverage costs?

ANSWER:
Operators expect a roaming service provider like Comfone to offer roaming solutions which enable them to increase their revenue as well as the effectiveness of their roaming business, while at the same time reducing their costs. They want expert know-how regarding all elements of roaming such as signalling and clearing, and, additionally, they need innovative solutions which anticipate their future challenges, as is the case with data roaming at the moment.

QUESTION:
As a leading provider of roaming, signalling and value added services; can you speak about the importance of providing your customers a variety of access options for their signalling needs?

ANSWER:
It is certainly very important to offer a variety of access options to a mobile operator. Based on their infrastructure and their technical requirements, they want a customised solution, one which fulfills their specific needs. With Comfone, mobile operators have the choice of Signalling Access over Public Internet, Signalling Access over private MPLS or via dedicated access with a leased line to one of Comfone’s Meet-Me-Point Telehouses. Signalling Access over Internet (SAoI), an innovative solution provided by Comfone, offers a quick and cost-effective access method to connect operators to Comfone’s infrastructure. This freedom of choice is an important competitive edge for Comfone.

QUESTION:
Can you elaborate on Comfone’s innovative signalling access offerings that allow mobile operators to take advantage of next-generation signalling – Signalling Access over Internet (SAoI)?
ANSWER:
One of Comfone’s primary goals is to offer its customers reliable, high quality services and solutions. In order to guarantee this, Comfone has enhanced its network to IP-based signalling infrastructure, by means of introducing SAoI and SIGTRAN. This step is a cost-effective alternative to choosing traditionally more expensive circuit switched facilities.
Lowering the infrastructure costs results in more competitive pricing for Comfone, which is also a benefit for our customers. The wide reach of the Internet also allows Comfone to extend its service offerings to a broader range of mobile operators – from the smallest to largest operators and in some geographically remote locations.

QUESTION:
While Comfone has embraced a next-generation IP-based signalling infrastructure as a means to controlling transport costs, how is Comfone able to cost-effectively offer service to mobile operators who have not yet made the transition to IP signalling?

ANSWER:
This does not pose any difficulty because the Mediation Devices (MDs) positioned at both the mobile operators’ premises and at Comfone are simultaneously able to establish a transparent virtual SS7 link over IP. With this solution mobile operators are able to achieve the cost benefits from IP Signalling without costly upgrades to their equipment. The deployment is virtually plug-and-play with the mediation devices remaining transparent in the network, with no Point Code and requiring no hands-on maintenance once configured by the technical engineers of Comfone.

QUESTION:
Comfone offers signalling over the public internet. Given the requirement for a high quality connection and the criticality of signalling, what technology makes this possible?

ANSWER:
The Mediation Devices installed at Comfone, PT’s SEGway Solution, have been optimised to provide a reliable signalling link within impaired quality IP networks such as the public Internet or over satellite. Issues which can significantly impact a signalling link, such as latency, are mediated within the MD to ensure the connection remains stable. These devices are able to operate reliably in networks with delays of up to 700 ms. It is also important to mention that a firewall at either end of the connection protects the Mediation Device against possible attacks from the Internet.
Mediation Devices are a proven and industry-accepted solution, and have been deployed by many of Comfone’s connected operators. Above all, this SEGway Solution fulfills our mediation requirements regarding signalling capabilities very well and supports our ongoing endeavours to further enhance our Signalling service, allowing us to minimise costs while guaranteeing our high standards of quality and service.

QUESTION:
You have discussed the various technical products and solutions that enable your network, what else do you look for in a supplier of your technology?

ANSWER:
It is important to us to know that the supplier we choose is experienced and can offer us the most cost-effective, comprehensive signalling technology available today. Therefore know-how and expertise are important criteria. Additionally, we also look for a cooperative and smooth working relationship and appreciate reliability and flexibility when implementing technological solutions into our core network. In such crucial projects, we also expect excellent and quick customer support from our suppliers. We at Comfone pay the utmost attention to offering our customers superb customer service, and we therefore know how important individual customer care is for customers and how it helps to build and secure long-term relationships.

For information on SEGway Signalling Solutions, visit www.pt.com

Dan Warren, Director of Technology, GSMA, tells the story of how the industry developed the  will to form the common standard to carry voice over LTE

You may have heard of the VoLTE initiative, and may even be aware that it is a GSMA-led programme to define a common way to carry voice over LTE using an IMS. But how did the industry arrive at this level of co-operation, what is the difference between VoLTE, CSFB, VoLGA, GAN, CSoPS (and other abbreviations), and why is it now important to have a common approach to voice over LTE? Dan Warren, Director of Technology, GSMA, gives his view of how the future of voice over LTE was, and is being, defined.

In 2010, we will get a much clearer idea of the potential of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks to deliver fast mobile data services to large numbers of people. The world’s first commercial LTE networks were launched recently in Sweden and Norway by TeliaSonera, with Verizon Wireless in the US, NTT DoCoMo in Japan and China Telecom set to follow suit this year. But while we all get excited about what LTE will mean for apps, augmented reality, social networking, video-on-demand, Internet browsing and many other multimedia services, we shouldn’t forget that voice services still generate close to three-quarters of operators’ revenues worldwide.

Soaring demand for the menagerie of multimedia services may be driving the testing and deployment of LTE networks in Europe and elsewhere, but it is crucial that voice services aren’t an afterthought. Not only do LTE networks need to support high-quality voice calls, it is also vital that the operators running these LTE networks implement voice services in a consistent way, as they did with GSM.

A consistent approach to implementing voice services, together with the coordinated allocation of spectrum, has underpinned the extraordinary success of GSM both in Europe and worldwide. GSM and related technologies, such as HSPA, thrive because manufacturers can produce mobile phones that will work in many different countries, enabling them to achieve the scale necessary to create a very broad range of models at very low cost. Moreover, people with GSM phones remain contactable all over the planet because more than 700 mobile operators in more than 200 countries and territories have all implemented voice services in a consistent manner.

Going outside the standards
But this fundamental principle seemed to have been forgotten, at least temporarily, when it came to defining a voice implementation for LTE. When LTE was first conceived one of the early decisions taken by the standards body 3GPP was that LTE would be the first technology in the GSM family not to support circuit-switched connections. That decision is easy to understand: a single IP-based transport system is key to ensuring that LTE networks are efficient enough to carry large volumes of traffic cost-effectively.

Unfortunately, that decision also left a vacuum. Instead of an explicit statement of what should replace the circuit-switched domain for voice, there was just an implicit assumption that operators would provide voice services using an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and the related Multimedia Telephony Service (MMtel) standard – a framework within which specific applications for person-to-person communication, including voice services, could be defined.

But when MMtel was conceived in 2006, many operators were lukewarm in their support for IMS and there was some pressure to define an alternative means of implementing voice services on LTE networks. So, 3GPP began to define a circuit switched fall back (CSFB) approach as an ‘interim’ or ‘migratory’ solution, which operators could use until they were ready to adopt IMS. Unfortunately, this compromise also opened the door to other approaches and further fragmentation ensued. 3GPP also began to study a further interim or migratory approach, known as circuit-switched over packet-switched system (CS over PS).

But the emergence of these different solutions raised some uncomfortable questions. Wouldn’t these “migratory” solutions end up being used for a long time? (A mobile network needs to support a migratory solution as long as there are handsets in circulation that only support that solution.) In the meantime, the cherished GSM principle of interoperability might be jeopardised. Could a CSFB device roam on a CS over PS network, or vice versa? Could either roam on an IMS network? After considering such issues, 3GPP halted the CS over PS work. But soon afterwards the VoLGA Forum was established to continue the definition of CS over PS outside of 3GPP, and to support the provision of voice over LTE using the GAN (Generic Access Network) standard.

Getting back on the IMS track
Meanwhile, the industry still lacked a clear target for the IMS-based implementation that everyone now accepted would be the end goal. So, the One Voice group was formed to flesh out an IMS-based solution. The work of that group has now become the basis of the GSMA’s Voice over LTE initiative (VoLTE), which is aiming to accelerate the launch of IMS-based voice services, curtailing the period in which migratory solutions will be needed.

IMS has many merits: it can support all standard voice call service features such as call waiting, call hold and call barring, and is capable of serving large numbers of subscribers. IMS can also be used to integrate voice calls with enhanced, rich features such as presence, instant messaging and video content, across networks run by different mobile operators. Here at the GSMA, we are coordinating the development of the specifications that will enable interconnection and international roaming between LTE networks with the goal of completing that work by the first quarter of next year.

The GSMA is also working with mobile operators to ensure that LTE spectrum is aligned internationally, as far as possible, and that the VoLTE solution will also be fully-compatible with voice services offered by fixed-line operators.

The VoLTE initiative has the backing of more than 40 organisations from across the mobile ecosystem, including many of the world’s leading mobile operators, handset manufacturers and equipment vendors. The European mobile operators supporting the initiative include 3 Group, Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile, mobilkom austria, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, TeliaSonera and Vodafone.

These operators recognise the importance of maintaining the high level of global interconnection and roaming inherent in today’s 2G and 3G networks. Telefonica CTO Vicente San Miguel, for example, said in February that his company “strongly supports this initiative to drive a common voice and messaging solution for the mobile industry, as it is a key enabler for the success of LTE.”

With this level of support for VoLTE, the mobile industry should be able to ensure that the interoperability and global reach that characterises GSM-based voice services continues in an all-IP world. High-quality voice services that work everywhere are fundamental to the mobile industry’s raison d’être and we mustn’t forget that.

Advertorial – Huawei Femtocells: Coverage, Capacity and Business Growth

We are racing into a full Mobile Broadband (MBB) society. New mobile devices are announced in the world’s consumer media daily; together with a seemingly endless treasure trove of increasingly refined MBB applications these announcements are building a tidal wave of end use interest and expectations in the convenience and availability of mobile broadband. Whether for personal or business use, subscribers no longer look at MBB as nice-to-have, they see it a most-have prerequisite of daily life.

In Huawei’s view, the era ushered in by this tsunami of global interest, will experience continuous growth. This will be accelerated by the introduction of new, more affordable, devices, as well as increased data consumption per user, where convenience will exponentially drive rates of consumption and sharing. Huawei’s solutions are designed to allow operators to cost-efficiently respond to and profitably benefit from our projection of a minimum 500 times current level increase in mobile traffic by 2015. Within this span of just five years, we expect at least four billion mobile subscribers to be surfing this massive broadband wave of data intensive use – a stunning increase over existing MBB subscribers.

Mobile Broadband therefore represents considerable opportunity for operators. But, as ever, opportunity is never without its challenges: enhanced coverage and QoS when indoors, cost-effective networks with adequate capacity, ease of introducing new services and added revenue streams, these are just a few of the questions operators would like to see answered.

Huawei has responded to operator challenges the SingleRAN@Broad solution. Announced at MobileWorld Congress in February of this year, the first entire value chain solution for our fast emerging broadband world has the potential to make tremendous traffic both possible and profitable.
By affording enhanced coverage, expanded delivery capacity and added service delivery to residences and enterprises, Femtocells play a key role in this integrated solution. As a result, Femtocells offer operators the opportunity or growth and added competitiveness. In SingleRAN@Broad, this is represented by an end-to-end uBro solution encompassing a Home Femtocell as well as a Pico Femtocell serviced by its uBro Network and connected in turn to a mobile operator’s Core Network.

Why Femtocells?
Offering Coverage
It is well known that, principally due to the restraints of in-building penetration, high traffic bandwidth has been conventionally difficult to provide from Outdoor Macro. Considering MBB is mainly consumed indoors, operators need a cost-effective solution to cover those indoor areas which do not currently inhibit or even prohibit consistent user friendly MBB experiences.

Femtocells are the ideal tool for expediting a solution; providing 100% continuous coverage and full bit-rate. As an example of Huawei’s many commercial deployments, a profiled operator has managed to overcome building challenges while improving user experience thanks to a 25dB increase in signal level.

Delivering Capacity
For continuity of existing mobile networks and reuse of legacy networks, a traditional operator approach to sustaining MBB services is through standard Macro Deployment. In this manner, capacity is added by: improving technologies, e.g. HSPA+/LTE, adding new or refarming existing spectrum, 2.6GHz/900, or introducing new sites. The later creates almost insurmountable difficulties when attempted in dense urban areas.

Taking into account the indoor venues for the potential 500 times traffic increase in just five years, Huawei has introduced a multi cloud layer as part of the SingleRAN@Broad solution. In this scenario Femtocells are used to offload Macro networks, ensuring an enhanced MBB experience while making it expanded coverage affordable and ultimately, profitable.

The ease of Huawei Femtocells installation combined with a fully proven commercial  Plug & Play self-configuring solution; adapted portfolio; differentiated Home and Pico offerings supported through a shared infrastructure, together with a reduction of OPEX, energy and transport in particular, are now key drivers for Femtocells – affording operators considerable cost advantage when compared with traditional Macro Network solutions.

This cost advantage increases exponentially with the amount of data to be carried. According to Huawei’s calculations, Femtocells can offer at least a 50% reduction in the cost per Mb. Actual benefit will vary according to traffic, penetration and macro network status. Huawei has developed an in-house business case tool specifically to assist operators in understanding Femto benefits.

Enabling Growth
With localized coverage reinforced by Femtocell locking features as well as Femtocell integration into Home/Enterprise network, it is now possible to enable growth by introducing news services through Femtocells such as automatic content synchronization, mobile advertisement based on location, mobile monitoring,  PBX or VPN features,…

Why Huawei?
Complete Solution
Huawei’s end-to-end uBro solution has been custom designed to serve Home Zones as well as Pico Zones through its uBro Network.

Thanks to Huawei’s Femtocell portfolio, operators have the choice to select the best product for both
Home Zone and Enterprise Zone according to varying specific environment requirements. Selection is made according to:

Home AP                              Pico AP
UAP2105                              ePico3801
Service           Coverage                       ~30m                                     ~100m
Service           Users                               4                                            16
Features         Full Mobility                    Yes                                         Yes
Features         Plug & Play                    Yes                                          Yes
Operation        Performance               Simplified                            Powerful Monitoring
Operation        Configuration              Automatic                    Automatic and Manual(Offline)

Several other product mixes can be offered based on these basic components in order to simplify Femtocell installation and integration in different deployment environments.

Ready to Market
There are still many operators, analysis and other industry stakeholders who have doubts or questions regarding Femtocell technology and business case readiness. Technical issues, such as interference with existing Macro Network, management interfaces, or Femto standard readiness; and business concerns, such as value with regards to WiFi, and overall costs, are among the top concerns.

From a technical point of view, Huawei’s uBro solution is completely ready for commercial deployment today. We have developed several proven effective tools and strategies to effectively resolve any potential Macro Network interference. These include Femto Pilot Power Auto-Management, Mobility Management, and UE Transmission Power Management. As demonstrated by our participation in the Femto Forum PlugFest, Huawei’s uBro system is ready for 3GPP Iuh standards.  Last but not least, in order to make sure that management interfaces are open and easily integrated with existing Back Office Support Systems (BOSS), Huawei’s uBro management solution supports open protocols such as TR069 or SOAP.

From a business point of view, Huawei is ready today to help operators better understand target market segments and Femtocell cost savings as highlighted previously in this article. In our view and with particular relevance for smartphones, since Femtocells support all 3G devices and simplify their utilization, Femtocells will coexist with WiFi and will target different utilization patterns.

In Summary
At the start of this new decade, after several years of study and technical development, Femtocells are finally becoming main stream. As of the date of this article, the industry has seen no less than ten commercial Femtocell services deployed, three of which have been expedited by Huawei.  While mainly employed for coverage, Femtos also have the potential to become excellent tools for capacity absorption and enablers of new services and added revenue streams. With proven Fentocell solutions well in-hand, Huawei is completely ready to help operators expand mobile broadband coverage and enhance capacity growth.

Sharing the Load: The Value of Subscriber, Service, and Policy Control in Mobile Data Traffic Offload

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