Network Sharing
A Business Perspective
Mohammad Hussain
Operators globally are embracing network sharing as a viable option to
reduce their operating expense and capital spending, improve and/or
expand coverage, reduce time to market, and to focus more on network
and technology refresh. With networks mature in most regions of the
world and service quality becoming the prime differentiator among the
operators, network sharing is inevitable.
Operators are more focused on the type of network sharing model to
use and how best to cooperate with their competitors in sharing their
networks while retaining control of their networks as much as possible.
This of course brings certain level of complexities into the network in
terms of execution and operations which needs to be managed carefully.
01
Globally, around 20% of operators engage in network sharing and it has
proven to be very effective in bringing down network costs. Network
sharing is prevalent in Europe, North America, and Asia. Companies
with shared networks in these countries prove to be more cost efficient
than operators that are not engaged in shared networks.
There are a variety of options that may be considered when assessing
the viability of network sharing. Passive sharing refers to the sharing
of building premises, sites and masts. Passive sharing is typically a
simpler form of network sharing, where there are still separate networks
that share the same physical space. Active sharing is a more complex
type of sharing and may include elements of the active layer of a mobile
network, such as Antennas, Radio’s, RNC’s, backhaul and transport,
as well as elements of the core network (such as switches). Roaming
in the context of network sharing means that one operator relies
on another operator’s coverage for a certain, defined footprint on a
permanent basis.
02
The sharing of sites and antennas, a combination of level one and level
two sharing, can reduce on an average 20-30% of CAPEX costs. If the
operators also share the radio network, there can be more savings,
whereby the operators can save between 25 and 45%. Finally, the sharing
of all the assets would decrease CAPEX by an additional 10%. Promoting
network sharing is a useful tool to encourage network deployment and
coverage improvement in developing and emerging markets and un-
served or under-served areas.
Roaming produces benefits primarily through delayed or reduced
investment in network infrastructure. This is particularly beneficial to new
entrants who require time to establish coverage footprints similar to that
of incumbents. Operators in Emerging markets have strong roaming
agreements, specially, in Middle East and rely on roamers to extend their
services and coverage in the visiting country for roamers.
03
We have discussed multiple types of approaches to network sharing
in this article. What model of network sharing to adopt depends on
type of Operator’s network and/or business model. Huawei has been
very active partner of operators in Network Sharing across the globe
and has lead operators to select a profitable network sharing scenario
and support in E2E network planning. With its state of the art tools
from traffic analysis, coverage mappings, user/terminal distribution, to
hotspot identifications, Huawei has been helping operators, globally, on
how best to supplement each other’s coverage gaps, help in faster and
affordable network establishment, and improving network quality and
user experience.
Huawei’s rich experience in Network Sharing with solutions such as
Multi-carrier Capable Radio Frequency Units that can handle carrier’s
from different operators such that each operator can independently
provision and control their own users. The SingleRAN solution from
Huawei, can easily be shared by multiple operators thereby reducing
Capex and Opex investments. Finally, Huawei’s consulting services
with experienced and skilled professionals, best practices, and thought
leadership offers best in class turnkey solutions for customers by
mapping business objectives to network and operational requirements
to produce business case based on optimal network sharing scenario
for the operator and develop detail E2E Planning & Design documents.
Huawei has successfully delivered 14 of 16 network sharing cases
throughout the globe in the past few years.
With ever increasing data usage, OTT players encroaching on the
shrinking revenues of operators there continues to be downward
pressures, on operators, to optimize costs, increase operational
efficiencies, and grow the business while providing superior E2E user
experience. In this environment, network sharing offers the solution
to operators to quickly overcome some of these challenges while they
expand and enhance their network.
04
05
I believe, Mobile Operators should consider network sharing as a
vehicle to cut operational and capital costs, and to focus more attention
on innovation and differentiation in customer-facing activities. Passive
Network Sharing is the simplest form for collaborating quickly, specially
for new and Greenfield operators, thereby expediting their rollout and
increasing coverage. Regulations could become an impediment for
operators if not balanced properly between demanding competition and
ensuring cost savings operators can realize by sharing their networks.
We are already seeing some relaxing of certain regulations, especially in
Europe, to encourage network sharing.