ERICSSON EXPANDER – SEPTEMBER 2005.
In 2005 the number of mobile subscribers worldwide stood at 1.6 billion and is expected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2009. About 80% of this growth is expected to occur in new high growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and China.
Subscribers in high growth markets fall into two main categories. First, there are the potential subscribers in urban areas or large cities, where there is already mobile coverage, or where there is a need for capacity expansion. Second, there are the potential users who live in areas with little or no existing mobile coverage, such as rural communities, where there is a need to provide initial coverage cost-effectively with built-in expansion possibilities.
In the first segment, the likely growth in mobile traffic is putting intense pressure on the limited amount of capacity available. To address this segment is not part of the Ericsson Expander solutions. While in the second segment, network operators are facing the challenge of providing cost-efficient coverage in more remote areas, which can have an impact on the total cost for the network. In both segments, it is increasingly important to find cost-effective coverage solutions in order to meet subscriber growth and network expansion needs of high growth markets.
Apart from network infrastructure costs, there are other issues that must be dealt with, including subscriber acquisition and the availability of low cost terminals, charging systems, managing credit risk and preventing revenue leakage, distribution channels, subscriber retention and management, service differentiation and of course, capital and operating costs (CAPEX and OPEX) in the network. Other key issues include transmission flexibility, growing network complexity, and network rollout and tuning.
See also:
Mobile Communications Global
Global – Mobile Data
