Reducing the Cost to Serve the First WiMAX Subscribers

Reducing the Cost to Serve the First
WiMAXT SubscribersWhite PaperBy Robert Sellinger and Haig SarkissianJuly 2007
AbstractAs more and more mobile carriers start deploying broadband wireless networks such as WiMAX, they are faced with the capital expenditures of the access network to provide coverage and that of the core network to provide connectivity. For small to mid-size deployments, the cost of the core network (ASN gateway plus IMS network elements) represents a large percentage of the initial CapEx. A radically consolidated, scalable core network architecture based on a new generation of multi-core processor technology from Sun Microsystems significantly reduces the cost of the core network thereby reducing the cost to serve the first WIMAX subscriber.
>Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................3
Platform Implications of Low-End Scalability......................................................5
Carrier's Benefit from Radical Consolidation......................................................7
Business Case Benefits from Radical Consolidation.............................................8
WiROI - The WiMAX ROI Business Planning Tool................................................12WiROI Inputs.....................................................................................................12WiROI Outputs...................................................................................................13The Sun WiROI...................................................................................................14
Consolidation Opportunities for WiMAX Networks............................................17
Conclusion....................................................................................................20
.3 Introduction Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Chapter 1Introduction
Despite the promise of high speed services associated with evolving 3G and 4G networks, the challenge of lowering the cost to serve the first subscriber remains a fundamental issue for both carriers and Network Equipment Providers (NEPs). This challenge is particularly acute for carriers building networks in emerging markets or those markets where entrenched competitors can effectively limit the available capi-tal for new build outs. The target market size for these new revenue opportunities is often less than 50,000 subscribers. Since these new networks are all typically built around an IMS core, the cost to serve the first subscriber of an IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) network needs to be examined as one of the first steps in attacking this fundamental cost challenge.
One of the virtues of IMS networks is the rich set of standardized interfaces between all the major IMS components that provide carriers more choice at lower prices than the legacy, vendor specific, proprietary networks IMS is starting to replace. How-ever, one implication of IMS' emphasis on standards is the fact that entry level IMS networks require many different network elements before the first subscriber can be served. For instance, even an entry level network still requires three CSCF (Call Session Control Function) functions (proxy, interrogating, serving), an HSS (Home Subscriber Server), various gateways, network/element management systems, and various application servers before service can be provided to the first subscriber. More often than not, each of these network elements requires a pair of carrier-grade servers that hosts the vendor's IMS software in active/standby configuration. Each IMS network element typically equates to, at least, a pair of under utilized, carrier grade servers. This typically requires the carrier building a new IMS network to ac-quire 20+ servers for the 10+ IMS network elements needed to provide service to the new carrier's first subscriber. While initially a major CapEx challenge to the carrier, over time the cost to power, cool, administer and maintain all these disparate serv-ers quickly becomes an OpEx issue as well.
Traditionally, legacy 2G and 3G networks were designed to scale up: the design challenge to the NEP was to cost effectively scale to millions of subscribers. Today, however, with virtually all major markets covered with several wireless networks, the greenfield opportunities for revenue... [download for more]