Marketing for Entrepreneurs Small Cells for Africa Marketing for Entrepreneurs

Introduction Mobile phone technology has been successful. When the first deployments started in the 1980s, the mobile phone was more of a luxury than a new Mercedes Benz Car. Now mobile phones are taken for granted. In the developed world, there is more than one phone for each person. But here are parts of the world where there is no mobile phone service. There are are billions of people who have no access to any kind communication: no phone of any kind, no internet, nothing. Conventional Radio access network equipment is not suitable for this market: Too complicated Too expensive It is designed to serve affluent urban and suburban areas, and it does this very well. It has been shown that access to communications is not just good for the users, but it speeds the development of an economy. The challenge is to provide communications (probably Mobile phone service) to as many people as possible.

Approaches Conventional Large and small cells 3GPP-compliant small Cells Open cellular

Conventional and Large Cells Coverage PSTN MSC BSC/PCU/RNC TDM BTS BTS SGSN GGSN PDN Element manager Provisioning OMCR NMC BTS Public Operator’s equipment Coverage solution

Large and Small Cells Large cells provide the cheapest contiguous coverage. However: Contiguous coverage is an expensive luxury Is there need to provide coverage in a wilderness? Large cells require a big tower, large bandwidth backhaul, large amounts of power Contiguous coverage requires handovers, frequency planning. Small Cells can concentrate coverage where facilities and customers are: The simplest and most cost-effective connectivity per user.

Advantages Disadvantages Class-leading performance and quality Sellable to high-tier operators where the business case allows Dual band 3GPP compliant GSM, UMTS, LTE, you name it. Disadvantages Expensive – business case only works in concentrated, high ARPU environments Needs professional installation Needs professional maintenance Only an MNO can operate.

3GPP-compliant small cells Coverage PSTN MSC BSC/PCU IP TX BTS BTS SGSN GGSN PDN Element manager Provisioning OMCR NMC BTS Public Operator’s equipment Coverage solution

Advantages Disadvantages Class-leading performance and quality Sellable to lower-tier operators Dual band 3GPP compliant GSM and LTE Easy installation and maintenance Low-power Low backhaul requirement. Disadvantages Only an MNO can operate.

Open Cellular ISP Core Coverage IP TX Public ISP’s equipment PSTN ISP Core IP TX BTS BTS PDN BTS Public ISP’s equipment Coverage solution

Advantages Disadvantages Class-leading performance and quality Sellable to ISPs or MNOs Trivial installation GSM, UMTS and LTE Dual band Open architecture Low Power consumption Low backhaul bandwidth requirement. Disadvantages Not 3GPP compliant, but compatible Need to arrange manufacture and deployment