LTE, small cells, congestion, exploding data demands — the complexity of mobile networks is expected to peak in 2013, making next year a big challenge for mobile operators.
That's the finding of Actix, the global provider of mobile network analytics and optimization software. Using insights from more than 400 mobile operator customers, Actix predicts that a lack of seamless integration between an increasing number of technologies, sites and cell sizes will significantly raise costs and impact customer experience.
More than 150 mobile operators will roll out LTE next year and the number of small cells is set to overtake macro cells, as networks are expanded with new access technologies. This will result in the average mobile operator network comprising four access technologies (2G, 3G, LTE, Wi-Fi), typically from a minimum of two vendors, with an increasing number of sites and multiple cell sizes, including macro, pico, metro, residential femto and enterprise femto, Actix said.
“This new paradigm will severely stretch operators’ existing tools, processes and people to breaking point and it is no longer viable to manually stitch together heterogeneous networks or manage technologies in silos," said Bill McHale, CEO at Actix. "To ensure a seamless customer experience, operators will need to scale out their activities through more effective use of customer insight and network analytics and multi-technology optimization. With LTE services rolling out and more tablets entering the market operators need to get this right, or risk losing subscribers."
