CONNECTING THE WIRELESS TO THE WIRED NETWORK By: Russ Schomber VP Network Services, Backhaul Services Group
Overview Todays Wireless Networks Cell Tower Density Nationally & Locally Typical Cell Tower Installations Cell Tower Backhaul Fiber Microwave New England Fiber Networks The Mobile Switching Center MSC Data Demand Growth Tomorrow s Wireless Networks Small Cells Wi-Fi Offload 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 2
National Cell Tower Map: ~250k towers 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 3
Cell Towers in MA Rank Operator Nationwide Towers 1 Crown Castle 22,251 2 American Tower 22,059 3 SBA Communications** 14,842 4 AT&T Towers 10,690 5 T-Mobile Towers 8,782 6 Global Tower Partners 5,683 7 United States Cellular Co. 4,802 8 Verizon Wireless 1,400 9 Time Warner 950 10 Mediacom Communications 750 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 4
Typical Cell Tower Installations 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 5
Atypical cell towers 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 6
Cell Tower Equipment on the Ground Pre-fab shelters or Outdoor Equipment Cabinets 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 7
somewhere in Westborough. 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 8
Cell Tower Backhaul You have to get that wireless service somewhere! First preference is Fiber to the Tower Next is Microwave, Ethernet over Copper, Ethernet over CATV, and T1s where nothing else is available Ethernet over SONET is quickly being replaced Carriers quickly migrating from TDM to Carrier Ethernet Previous bandwidth per tower: 5-8 T1 s, 10MB-15MB Today s demands: 20MB to 50MB per carrier, 3-5 carriers per tower, total demand of 100MB to 250MB per tower One Carrier: 100MB per tower minimum nationwide Future demands: Varies but forecasted to be 1GB at towers in metro areas 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 9
Cell Tower Backhaul Some Wireless Service Providers (WSPs) are self building their backhaul networks: Microwave Leasing dark fiber directly Combo of self build and leased Microwave is more prevalent in hard to reach areas and in the edges of suburbia and in rural areas Make / Buy Fiber vs. Microwave: Aerial fiber construction: $35k per mile + Make Ready costs 200MB MW radio shot $25k - $35k 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 10
Mobile Switching Center (MSC) Network Each WSP has several MSC s in the region. If your call is in region it will be passed from MSC to MSC over fiber then out to the user over the wireless network. 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 11
Cell Tower Backhaul Fiber Installation Fiber connected to equipment in an weather proof enclosure Some vendors now making an all in one unit: fiber splice tray, power supplies, Carrier Ethernet network element. Hand off to customer over fiber pair on 1GE interface 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 12
Cell Tower Backhaul - Microwave Microwave Technology keeps improving annually New radio modulation techniques pack more into every bit transmitted Transmission is a tradeoff between distance and frequency from 6GH to 60GHZ Lower the frequency, the longer you can transmit Licensed and unlicensed spectrum Examples: 6GHz shot 20 miles 24GHz shot 5 miles BW ranges from 150MB to 1GE 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 13
Cell Tower Backhaul - Microwave 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 14
Cell Tower Backhaul - Microwave Typical rooftop installation 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 15
Cell Tower Backhaul Challenges Site Acquisition negotiating & dealing with tower and building owners Right of Way & Easement issues - getting the fiber to the tower, getting fiber to the roof Tower structural analysis Engineering Line of Site (LOS) Analysis: via software then a physical check Operational Aspect techs that can climb towers Disaster Recovery Reliance on mobile communications has increased the reliability requirements for the mobile networks, i.e. backup power Super Storm Sandy Making the Business Case work! $$$ 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 16
Line of Sight Analysis by computer 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 17
So why don t we just build more fiber? We are but Congestion: This MSC has 7 fiber providers entering it no more room on the poles! Make Ready work can be $$$ If the antenna is on a building, can be expensive to get to the roof Dealing with private landlords / landowners At the end of the day, the business case needs to work, needs to justify the investment 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 18
Data Traffic Growth Source: 02-06-13 Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast Projects 13-Fold Growth in Global Mobile Internet Data Traffic from 2012-2017 Nearly Half of All Cellular Traffic Will Be Off-loaded to Fixed or Wi-Fi Networks by 2017; 4G Expected to Support Nearly 10 Percent of All Mobile Connections by 2017 More mobile connections: By 2017, there will be more than 10 billion mobile devices/connections, including more than 1.7 billion M2M connections (up from 7 billion total mobile devices and M2M connections in 2012). Faster mobile speeds: Average global mobile network speeds will increase seven-fold from 2012 (0.5 Mbps) to 2017 (3.9 Mbps). More mobile video: By 2017, mobile video will represent 66 percent of global mobile data traffic (up from 51 percent in 2012) 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 19
Enter Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload LTE Macro base stations are expensive ~$200k If we can offload some of the traffic onto femto cells (house or office), small cells (shopping mall, main street, parks, beaches) this gives more breathing room on the existing macro cell towers. Sprint has deployed over 1 million femto cells in users homes. Leverages the consumers broadband connection; becomes part of the Sprint Network. Small Cell Coverage: ~1000 diameter Wi-Fi Coverage: ~250 diameter Can spend <$200k, deploy quicker, get better coverage 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 20
Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 21
Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload Seeing more and more of this AT&T Wi-Fi in Starbucks Free Wi-Fi in most retail stores Municipal installations in cities and towns 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 22
Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 23
Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload Wi-Fi offload is moving faster than small cell Major Wireless Operators still looking at small cell technology Need to have a uniform network, management, reporting Cover all of the gaps, ensure good customer experience Understand and address interference issues where macro cell coverage overlaps the small cell coverage area Several trials ongoing in the US UK is ahead of the US on trials and deployments 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 24
Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload Opportunities for small cells: Areas with restrictive zoning for new large towers Cover portions of lightly populated areas where it make the most sense Fix holes in coverage due to geography that adding another tower just wont fix: Costal areas Valleys Cities with tall buildings Environmentally sensitive areas National Parks 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 25
Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload Small Cell Antennas typically do not cover an area uniformly. There is a coverage pattern to the antenna. This model has a 60 coverage pattern or lobe. Just like with Macro cell towers, the RF coverage areas need to be thoroughly engineered for small cells 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 26
Small Cells & Wi-Fi Offload Planned Wi-Fi offload trial we are looking at for Plymouth MA 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 27
but they are just part of the solution Challenges with Small Cells and Wi-Fi offload: Site Acquisition: Getting on the Lamp Post easier said then done Getting fiber to the Lamp Post wireless Line of Site (LOS) or Non Line of Sight (NLOS) technologies rule here Where is my backup power? There isn't Signal Congestion need to ensure the user has an improved experience; interference between the Macros cell zone and the small cell zone seamless transfer It s a bit of a land grab now don t want multiple devices cluttering up the poles 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 28
The Future: More Wireless and more Fiber! More wireless at the edges to offload the core wireless network More fiber and microwave to increase capacity wherever a cell antenna is located More BW capacity between MSC s, 100GB links over fiber More BW capacity between MSC s and content providers (over Fiber): Internet, Amazon, Google, Facebook 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 29
Shameless Plug Backhaul Service Group: Startup focusing on cell tower backhaul, small cells, and Wi-Fi offload in New England Focus is to leverage BTOP stimulus funded networks to provide these services Maine New Hampshire Western & Central Massachusetts Cape Cod Planning small cell / Wi-Fi offload trials in Plymouth and Provincetown MA this summer 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 30
Thank You! Contact: Alan Davis, CEO and President, adavis@backhaulsg.com (508) 380-0601 Russ Schomber, VP Network Services rschomber@backhaulsg.com (617) 413-7850 Backhaul Services Group 1900 West Park Drive, Suite 280, Westborough, MA 01581 508-983-1466 www.backhaulservicesgroup.com 3/7/2013 Backhaul Services Group Confidential 31