The increase of data traffic in mobile networks is arguably the biggest phenomenon in the telecoms industry in recent years. We can be certain of one thing. With smartphones getting smarter and mobile broadband getting faster, data rates will continue to grow – rapidly. Operators must modernize their networks to meet the inevitable demand and capitalize on mobile data growth. With Ericsson's solution, operators could earn their investment back in less than two years.

At Ericsson, we estimate that global data rates in mobile networks could multiply 1000-fold on current rates by 2020, when we also predict a world of more than 50 billion connected devices.

In such a data traffic-centered world, those GSM and WCDMA base stations installed before 2004 – which cannot be upgraded to LTE, HSPA or EDGE – will effectively be redundant. That amounts to 1.5 million of the current 5 million installed base stations.

The majority of networks that need to be modernized are in urban areas. Our cities may have been the first to have mobile networks, but that also means that, in most cases, they are the oldest.

We know about the concerns facing operators when it comes to the complex nature of network modernization, especially when so many base stations are involved.

That's why we have an operators' network modernization case that goes beyond simply replacing base stations. We have an end-to-end solution covering all stages in the process: from consultation, planning and design, expansion, integration, optimization, through to operations and support.

By deploying more efficient equipment, such as our RBS 6000, operators do not need as many radio base stations in the network, reducing site rental savings by up to one-third. Those units also require less energy and less maintenance – enabling operators to be more energy efficient and reduce their carbon footprint.

Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President of Product Area Radio at Ericsson’s Business Unit Networks, highlights a further benefit, saying operators may not have to wait long to recover their investments – and more.

"There is a good operator business case in network modernization in general because it also allows operators to reduce cost, improve quality and improve energy efficiency," he says.

"Operators can reduce opex by as much as 30 percent through network modernization. But there is also a positive effect on the revenue side because improved network quality and performance results in increased traffic. So you have, in many cases, a payback time of less than two years. If you then add the mobile broadband preparedness that LTE introduces, network modernization becomes very interesting to most operators."

Jan Ögren, former Head of Network Roll-Out at Business Unit Global Services, says the company’s services arm works closely with the network technology colleagues to meet customers' network modernization needs. Ögren is now Vice President and Head of Finance and Sales at Business Unit Global Services.

"We supply all related services that enable high-quality network rollout with the shortest delays, as well as optimization services to get the maximum out of the systems," he says.

The largest live network upgrade so far was with Vodafone Essar in India; Ericsson swapped more than 16,000 radio base stations and 250 base station controllers in 13 months – two months ahead of schedule. The peak replacement rate was one GSM site per minute. Ericsson has also worked with many other global operators on network modernization, including projects in Germany, China, the US, Libya, Australia, Ireland, Indonesia, the UK, Vietnam, Ukraine, Paraguay, Italy, Uruguay and Malaysia.