RCS&RDS A Successful Transition from Cable Operator to Broadband Service Operator
Release Date：2012-07-12
By Zhang Yan
With the evolution of mobile broadband technologies, boom in internet services, and boom in intelligent terminals, Chinese operators are facing fierce competition to expand their mobile broadband user base.
Providing customers with differentiated, personalized, high-quality mobile internet services gives operators a core advantage. It is also a major way to increase revenue and user loyalty. Therefore, Guangzhou Mobile introduced ZTE’s customer experience assurance (CEA) services to evaluate service performance, troubleshoot potential problems, and develop optimization solutions. This helps Guangzhou Mobile improve service quality according to customer experience.
Guangzhou Mobile is located in a front-line city for reforms and opening up in China and has always been encouraged to adopt new technologies. Guangzhou Mobile selects RNC10 that is in a major coverage area and with large service traffic as a pilot site, for which ZTE provides CEA services.
In order to improve service quality, user experience, and customer satisfaction, ZTE customized a series of service solutions for Guangzhou Mobile. These solutions include TCP connection performance analysis and HTTP service performance analysis to analyze the quality of current mainstream services.
TCP Connection Performance Analysis to Enhance User Perception of Access
The analysis shows that the TCP connection success rate of Guangzhou Mobile was as low as about 70% and seriously affected service access performance (Fig. 1). Generally, the normal value is 92–93%, so the success rate of Guangzhou Mobile had to be increased by about 23%. This issue involves the coverage or interference on the wireless side.
The delay for TCP connection is 540 ms, and it is even longer on the wireless side. Therefore, the delay needed to be shortened on the upstream, wireless sides, and in TOP cells.
In traditional network management systems, TCP connection KPIs are poor, and we cannot tell whether the problem lies with wired part or wireless part. To address this issue, CEA is introduced to break down the overall connection process, find the root causes, and solve problems rapidly.
HTTP Service Performance Analysis to Enhance User Perception of Integrity
After analyzing HTTP services thoroughly, we discovered that the success rate of DNS query was relative low, and the GET response delay was fairly long (Fig. 2). After further investigation, we found that DNS query failed due to defaulting or invalid users. The GET response delay depends mainly on the CMWAP channel. However, the GET response delay of CMWAP channel is six times greater than that of the CMNET channel. Therefore, the performance of CMWAP channel needed to be further improved.
The DNS query success rate is only a representation. Based on the industry-leading clustering algorithms, the CEA service pinpoints problems by analyzing the related network elements of a faulty network element and then solves the faulty APN efficiently. By doing this, the CEA service increases the overall success rate of DNS query and guarantees network quality.
Web Browsing Service Performance Analysis to Enhance User Perception of Usage
After analyzing the download rate of web browsing services, we discovered that approximately two-thirds of users had good perception, about one-third of users had fair or poor perception, and 16% of users had very poor perception.
Results of download rate analysis showed that perception of the download rate in 30% of the cells was fair and that in 1.7% of the cells was poor. For the cells with fair or poor user perception, which are possibly caused by large number of users, high load, or limited coverage, the download rate needs to be increased through expansion or coverage optimization.
Service usage patterns cannot be obtained by conventional means. Thanks to its accurate business models and in-depth understanding of network problems, ZTE’s CEA service not only makes user behavior visible but also defines root causes rapidly, troubleshoots potential network problems, and makes suggestions for corrective measures.
Through cooperation between Guangzhou Mobile and ZTE, by focusing on user experience and service quality, the CEA service conducted a comprehensive bottom-up examination of networks and pinpointed some potential problems that were affecting service quality and user experience. These problems could not be detected by conventional means. CEA is a much more efficient way of solving problems. With special CEA optimization, user perception of the web browsing service increased from fair (3.23 points) to good (4.8 points). It guarantees the quality service of Guangzhou Mobile.
Romania Cable Systems and Romania Data Systems (RCS&RDS) is the second largest fixed-line telecom operator in Romania. After years of rapid growth, RCS&RDS has developed into a major full-service telecom operator in Eastern Europe. It also has operations in Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Spain, and Italy. By the end of 2010, RCS&RDS had more than 1.7 million users. In early 2011, RCS&RDS acquired UPC, the largest cable TV operator in Romania, and this move will add two million subscribers to the RCS&RDS user base.
RCS&RDS Faces Competitive Pressure
Eastern Europe is a fiercely competitive market. All of the local fixed-line operators in Eastern Europe have been acquired by major operators in Western Europe, and as a result, major operators in Western Europe have acquired many more network resources. Small and medium-sized operators have been forced to survive by cutting prices. To gain market share without being trapped in low-price, low-tech competition, RCS&RDS has had to deploy future-proof networks and technologies that meet the multiservice, high-bandwidth requirements of users. It has also had to lower its TCO. The new networks and technologies must help RCS&RDS overcome bottlenecks in business growth, rapidly seize market opportunities, and boost competitiveness.
RCS&RDS is a traditional rival of Romtelecom and has sought to expand its fixed-line business by adopting new technologies. After introducing GPON in 2007, RCS&RDS has seen its market share increase year by year at the expense of Romtelecom. According to statistics released by Romanian telecoms regulator ANCOM, Romania had 5.36 million fixed-line users in 2010. Because of its conservative attitude towards new technologies, Romtelecom saw its market share drop from 74% in 2007 to 60% in 2010. By contrast, RCS&RDS cracked the fixed-line market with high-access bandwidth delivered via GPON and FTTH.
A Customized Solution Helps RCS&RDS Transform Itself
ZTE began technical exchanges with RCS&RDS in 2008. After analyzing RCS&RDS’s services and network architecture and conducting tests with the company’s engineers, ZTE worked out a customized GPON-product software solution. In 2009, ZTE commercially trialed GPON in Bucharest, which further proved the stability of ZTE equipment. In 2010, RCS&RDS adopted ZTE GPON equipment on a large scale in order to cover the whole country. The same equipment was also used to win market share in neighboring countries, including Hungary. To respond to a rapidly changing market, ZTE established an R&D team that worked closely with the marketing team to break technical bottlenecks. Inter-team collaboration allowed ZTE to meet the customization requirements of RCS&RDS at short notice on many occasions, and this ability was praised by RCS&RDS executives. By Q3 2011, ZTE had activated 160,000 lines of GPON equipment for RCS&RDS and had laid a solid foundation for securing more orders from the operator. RCS&RDS plans to use GPON to upgrade the entire network for its 400,000 broadband users. Through strengthened cooperation with ZTE, it will also modernize its network for cable TV users.
Before adopting ZTE's GPON equipment, RCS&RDS had explored other avenues to improve network speed and quality and had purchased GPON equipment from other vendors. Because of intense competition and diverse technical requirements in the Romanian market, those vendors could not respond fast enough to the technical and market requirements of RCS&RDS. Consequently, the operator’s TCO could not be significantly reduced. ZTE’s FTTx customized software solution can be used to upgrade an existing CATV and switch access platform. It can be used to flexibly network PON technology and is highly compatible with CATV signals. Its functions can be customized to allow interconnection with existing equipment. By smoothly evolving the network to FTTH, user access experience is improved and terminal bandwidth is increased to 100 MB. The solution meets customer needs for diverse functions and TCO is lowered for the operator.
Fast Delivery Ensures RCS&RDS Reaps Profits
ZTE’s GPON equipment performs stably and aligns very well with market requirements. This had led to explosive user demand that has caught RCS&RDS unaware. With its efficient production and logistics systems, ZTE promptly adjusted its production capacity to ensure adequate supply for tens of thousands of new users each month.
By cooperating with ZTE, RCS&RDS has rapidly improved its network and service quality, expanded its market share, and enhanced its profitability. An ANCOM report for 2010 showed that by the end of 2010, RCS&RDS had a 31% share of Romania’s fixed broadband market. After acquiring the cable TV subscriber base of UPC in 2011, RCS&RDS is likely to increase its cable TV market share to 58% or more. RCS&RDS said that after acquiring UPC, it would continue to use ZTE’s GPON equipment to upgrade its cable network and expand its FTTx network.
Related Articles
.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}