Use IP Transformation to Break Down Operational Silos and Rapidly Deploy New Services

By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Contributor

Consumers and businesses today expect cutting edge, nimble, easy-to-use information and communication services. When services meet their expectations, they’re likely to remain loyal to the provider. If not, they will go shopping for better options.

An integral part of delivering services that meet user expectations is mobility—making it easy for customers to access content and applications from their mobile devices. So many people now carry around mobile devices, and use them for content-rich, video-intensive purposes, that 3G networks in many markets are not able to keep up.

This means that service providers much make the move to other types of wireless access, like LTE (News - Alert), and do it quickly before customers start looking elsewhere.

Successfully evolving to LTE requires a carefully thought out strategy, taking into consideration a variety of factors. For example, when and where is the best time to launch LTE? How should new spectrum be purchased? What are some best practices for managing subscriber migration?

The first step is to conduct mathematical modeling of how to best partition 3G and 4G coverage. Data delivery may, for example, be supported now by UMTS and voice by GSM. This impacts how and when it makes sense to roll out 4G technologies like LTE.

“LTE evolution is more than a move to a new technology,” Alcatel Lucent (News - Alert) points out. “Strategic and cost directional analysis help evaluate how spectrum should be used, which wireless broadband technologies to apply and when to introduce and overlay LTE, in order to support the projected growth of subscriber traffic while taking into account the end-to-end total cost of ownership (TCO) for the operator.”

In other words, migration to 4G necessitates changes in business models, not just the technology used to deliver existing services. Successful 4G service providers will look beyond the network to incorporate an ecosystem of applications, devices and partnerships with content providers.

In many cases, service providers will find that one such necessary partnership is teaming with an expert industry consultant, like Alcatel Lucent, to develop strategies that serve interests of the business and its customers.

A recent case study from Alcatel Lucent illustrates this point.

Back in 2005, Australian service provider Telstra (News - Alert) began a 5-year plan to transform its IP strategy.

“We were facing significant competition from traditional carriers in all of the markets in which we operated,” Telstra said in the case study. “We also saw important new non-traditional players enter the market. As we assessed the landscape, we knew it was time for a dramatic change to take place.”

Telstra had several key goals, including to remain the leading telecom provider in Australia and to drive shareholder value. Achieving those goals required customer loyalty driven by unique, flexible products coupled with nimble sales, activation and support of its services.

“This not only called for an IP transformation, but also for a complete review of our business,” Telstra said. “To accomplish this we needed the right partner.”

That partner turned out to be Alcatel Lucent. Working together, the two companies built a new, high-performance network platform capable of handling even the most demanding multimedia workloads delivered through wireline, wireless and backhaul environments.

“The business benefits of the IP transformation are numerous, Alcatel Lucent said in the case study. “As you reduce the number of actual networks, you save on software licensing costs, air conditioning and power. This optimized environment drives actual dollar saving and impacts how the business is run and ultimately provides customers with a better price point and a wider range of services.”

(source: http://next-generation-communications.tmcnet.com/topics/wireless-all-around/articles/137779-use-ip-transformation-break-down-operational-silos-rapidly.htm)