Optimizing 5G deployment: proven methods for achieving cost efficiency

By Ahmad Ridhwan Azizan

The total cost of ownership (TCO) for a 5G network can be up to six times that of a 4G network of comparable size. Keeping 5G TCO from spiraling out of control has proven to be a challenge for over 80% of MNOs globally. With operators at various stages in their evolutionary journeys, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to 5G deployment. Which options are viable?How can MNOs determine the most suitable approach for their needs? In this article, we synthesize what we have learned from 5G roll-outs globally; right from the launch of the first commercial, the 5G network in the United States has thus far presented what has emerged as the most cost-effective path to the transition from 4G to 5G.

Which options are viable?

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a global organization that manages mobile communication standards, has mapped out six viable options based on the forward and backward compatibility between the LTE and 5G New Radio (NR) control plane and user plane procedures.

All vendors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and device and chipset manufacturers must support these options.

Which approach to choose?

5G represents a paradigm shift in design principles and network architecture, enabling operators to adopt a cross-domain approach that eliminates the inefficiencies of traditional silos in radio, transport, and core networks.

Leading Communications Service Providers (CSPs) utilizing this approach have achieved up to a 45% reduction in time to market, 30% lower TCO, and 14% improved end-to-end service reliability.
The first step is traffic analysis, using call records to create a 3D map of an urban area that shows call volume and data throughput across buildings and streets. The next step is a site assessment based on a huge database of site build costs, such as power deployment and fiber towers.

The result is a radio plan and a detailed cost-benefit analysis of coverage and costs for every site. This plan serves as the input for a data center planning tool, which shows the ideal locations of compute and storage capabilities across the network (or edge data centers), considering factors such as physical space, power, and cooling requirements.

It provides an accuracy that conventional approaches cannot achieve; estimating and translating capacity demands into networks that can cost-effectively serve them - an essential concern for telecommunications CXOs.

How to deploy a radio access network?

The transition from 4G networks to fully standalone 5G networks is shaping a seamless transition across the radio, transport, and core domains, achievable in four steps:

⦁ Introduce 5G using dual connectivity

⦁ Introduce 5G on mid-band and low-FDD bands

⦁ Introduce 5G on high bands

⦁ Ready for transition to full standalone 5G

How to deploy the transport network?

5G radio network performance, particularly peak rates and latency, will largely depend on the capacity and topology of transport networks. Microwave and fiber will remain essential for backhaul but will experience significant changes in three key areas:

⦁ Sync – Introduction of time and phase in addition to frequency, which legacy networks have been using so far;

⦁ Capacity – Introduction of E-band and multi-band solutions for microwave, IP routers;

⦁ Routing protocols – Introduction of IP Multiprotocol Label switching further out in the network to support lower latency.

How to deploy the core?

Latency depends on all three domains of the network — RAN, transport, and core — rather than just RAN, as is often assumed. Achieving the desired latency requires optimizing the core for the user plane through a network functions virtualization infrastructure that strategically distributes computing, storage, and virtual network functions.

Conclusion

History reveals that an ecosystem of solutions almost always trumps isolated solutions. Operators play a vital role in driving the industry to converge on this path. Large-scale divergence from the outlined 5G deployment paths will add further complexity to the ecosystem, drive up costs, and slow the overall roll-out, pace of adoption, and time-to-value.

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