Written by:Stephen Carson, Bodil Josefsson, Anette Lundvall, Michael Martinsson, Niclas Melin and Joerg Sieber

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Ericsson has developed a set of solutions that help operators address opportunities in high-growth markets by reducing their total cost of ownership. The solutions encompass everything from the core network and radio access network, to transmission, charging systems and services. Ericsson Expander consists of cost-effective solutions that provide coverage-optimized technology for GSM/EDGE and CDMA2000 networks.

The article GSM network solutions for new-growth markets, published in Ericsson Review no. 1, 2004, explained Ericsson’s Expander solutions for GSM. In this article, the authors present a case study that illustrates the potential of Ericsson’s Expander solutions in the GSM radio access network. They also describe how operators may obtain cost-effective coverage by utilizing different parts of the Expander offering throughout the network.

Using TCO to highlight Expander solutions for the GSM radio access network Total cost of ownership
Giving ample consideration for end-user perception and the optimization of network resources, Ericsson has identified and addressed an enhanced approach to idle-mode distribution. This, in turn, has resulted in four main assertions:
The article GSM network solutions for new-growth markets laid the groundwork for understanding how Ericsson’s Expander radio solutions can help network operators to lower their operating and capital expenditures.1 This article applies the concepts introduced in that article to a specific case—in a recent study completed for a large African mobile operator, Ericsson demonstrated that it makes economic sense to invest in advanced radio solutions to lower the cost of expanding coverage. Using a progression of five scenarios, Ericsson calculated the total cost of ownership (TCO, a benchmark of the cost of expanding coverage in a defined area) for the radio access network. The study showed that the operator could significantly reduce its cost of operating the network.

The TCO of a GSM radio access network is the sum of costs associated with dimensioning the access network, including operating expenses (OPEX) and depreciation. The TCO model is not a business case because it does not include revenues or the costs of business operations. Instead, it concentrates on annual network expenses calculated for specific coverage and capacity.

[First published in Ericsson Review no. 01, 2004]