Telecom consulting

As telecom operators continue to evolve and upgrade networks, the operating environment will become increasingly complex. In the mobile space, technologies such as 2G, 3G, and 4G will need to coexist for many years. Similar challenges exist for the fixed operator and this has led to the growing need to have accurate and up to date information on assets deployed in the field.

In many instances, network operators have switched off old equipment but not removed the footprint. Over many years, equipment has been upgraded and accurate data does not exist on what sits in any given rack or shelf, and the challenges posed by the current trend of operators sharing networks is only set to compound the problem. The implications for operators can be immense in terms network planning and on-going operating costs.

To address this challenge, ITEL is able to undertake site audits on behalf of network operators and enterprise customers. Using our highly trained field force, we conduct audits through agreed procedures. The services we offer range from:

• Site access requirement
• Floor plans
• Rack plans
• Equipment plans (including serial numbers)
• Site power layout
• 24 x 7 capability

In today’s extremely competitive telecom market, it is imperative for an operator to continuously monitor the network performance and quality of service to sustain a leading competitive edge in the market by assuring customer satisfaction. ITEL’s technical end to end network audit services helps an operator in identifying issues in the network, root cause of all issues and actions required to address those issues. The audit assures that:

Functional targets & objectives are achieved

Network resources are fortified and optimally utilized.

Applicable guidelines, regulations, and policies are followed

Reliable data are obtained and used for forecasting, planning, operating, optimizing, fine-tuning and monitoring of network performance.

ITEL’s Audit services provide key to operators with the approach of delivering business intelligence to the top management, maximizing customer satisfaction and decreasing CAPEX and OPEX.

With extensive experience in the industry, ITEL is the best choice of the network operators for Network Audit services.  ITEL has a unique combination of global expertise and capabilities with local presence and delivery.

ITEL is independent of operators, tools vendors or equipment vendors; this gives to ITEL’s audit the value of an External and Independent Auditor.

ITEL’s end to end technical network audit covers all network areas including RF, BSS, Core, Transmission, IP/MPLS, IN, VAS, NOC/FM and Rollout. An audit is conducted in three phases:

 Phase 1 – Data Collection:   Collection of historical and field data

Phase 2 – Data Analysis: An in-depth study of data collected with root cause analysis of problems

Phase 3 – Recommendations:  Preparation of detailed recommendations with concrete action items to improve network performance and implementation roadmap.

Service Benefits:

• Better network quality
• Improved customer satisfaction and reduced churn
• Higher revenue and ARPU
• Reduced CAPEX and OPEX

Performance audit is one of the primary areas of focus in an overall network audit. This service targets the evaluation of the network based on design goals verses the performance achieved. The dynamic nature of mobile network caused by network expansion, subscriber growth, new service launch & environment creates multiple challenges for the operator to know exactly where the performance of the network stands compared to the design objectives. By collecting large amounts of network data we can evaluate the network quality from an end-user perspective and find out where the network bottlenecks are and where there is potential for network performance improvements.

Discover the existing and potential loopholes in the network performance over all its elements: Scan for network potential problems through hundreds of audit checking items, perform the investigation on those problems and provide improvement suggestions.

Forecast the demand for system capacity: Analyze the traffic characteristic and traffic model, geographical distribution of the traffic density, predicts the traffic growth trend and provide the corresponding resource adjustment suggestion.

Evaluate the network performance from subscriber perceptions: E2E performance audits helps the operator in finding out the root cause for customer complaint, the real network coverage, and service quality condition.

Our approach is based on a “Diagnostics, Prognosis and Cure” methodology where we collect information from the network by almost all possible sources, analyze that information and at the end come out with a detailed report which besides covering the results of the entire analysis has a comprehensive section on our recommendations.

 Service Benefits

• Improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn by guaranteeing service availability and reliability as much as possible.
• Protect and increase revenue by improving service quality and availability, as a result of proactively detecting possible network service degradations.
• Reduce operating expenses by proactively identifying and fixing performance loopholes and getting the best out of the available network resources.

Besides technical audits, ITEL is also capable to audit the processes in a technical organization and examining the effectiveness of the company procedures. A Process Audit involves a review of an operator’s processes and procedures, as pertaining to the operation of their network.  As an example, this could involve a review of processes and procedures for various aspects of engineering, such as the process for the projection of network capacity, network expansion procedures, procedures for monitoring network performance, procedures for dealing with customer complaints, network management and maintenance procedures, network quality management, disaster management procedures, network security procedures audit, etc.  An audit also includes a review of the organizational structure of a company, along with the number of personnel dedicated to each sub-organization.  Such an audit also typically includes suggestions for improvements and best practices.  Depending upon the project, a process audit may also include aspects other than network operation, such as billing, marketing, etc.

With each generation of wireless technology (2G, 3G, and 4G), operators have faced technology choices, or, where technology choices are clear, need to know what to expect from emerging technology. ITEL has significant experience not only comparing technologies but also evaluating individual wireless technologies.

ITEL helps clients with technology selection and the evaluation and selection of infrastructure, based on their fit with the business drivers. This service can also include management and development of technology strategy and future migration paths.

Technologies can be evaluated and compared from various aspects, including the following:

• Timing of availability
• Supported spectrum
• Expected performance, in terms of maximum and average data rates, cell throughput or capacity, latency, etc.
• Typically expected cell coverage radii
• Transport and core network requirements
• Planned evolution of technology
• Expected timing of availability of different types of user devices

 Service Benefits

The result of such a comparative analysis can help companies in selecting the

appropriate technology, matching to their business needs, or in providing

realistic expectations from a particular technology.  ITEL, being and a engineering a company has experience across all technologies.

Technology evaluation can be performed not only across major technologies but also for ancillary technologies such as indoor coverage solutions, etc.

Additional Strategic Consulting Services

Network technical due diligence

Technology field trials

Spectrum-related projects

Specialized CW and interference testing

Any time new technology is being introduced in a network, RFI or RFP responses from infrastructure vendors need to be evaluated.  ITEL can not only help create an RFI or RFP to send to infrastructure vendors, but can also evaluate and compare the responses.  For example, vendor responses can be analyzed and compared for the following broad categories:

• Product and features roadmap
• Product and features timing of availability
• Technical information on infrastructure elements (radio network, core network, back-office systems, etc.), such as performance
• Standards conformance
• Interoperability
• Pricing

Of course, each section above has several subsections, and ITEL analyzes each in thorough detail.  ITEL can use a scoring methodology to evaluate each vendor, and can not only provide a final score, but also provide winners in each category, for example, which vendor has earliest availability, which has technically superior features, which has the best performance, which has the best pricing, which has the best plan for interoperability testing with the widest number of other vendors, and which has the likely best interoperability with infrastructure in an existing network (if any).

The results of such an analysis help pick the best vendor(s) to match an operator’s business needs, using an independent process.