The avalanche of publicity around the launch of Apple’s music service earlier this year highlights the rapid growth in number and popularity of user apps for sharing music and videos. The result is inevitable – an ever increasing amount of data consumption. Not to even mention the new data-intensive areas such as connected cars and smart cities, which are driving traffic to still dizzier heights.
LTE networks are vital to making all this happen, but only if the underlying connectivity architecture is ready to deliver the performance needed.
Only an IP-based transport network will be able to meet the challenge. LTE transport cannot be separated from the LTE radio and core systems because these systems need to interact at crucial points.
Aspects such as capacity and latency need to be planned end-to-end, because the weakest link will be the breaking point. Operators also need to adopt the right transformation strategy that will help them migrate to the right architecture cost-effectively.
Operators must be confident that their IP connectivity is future proof. As radio technologies evolve, mobile backhaul must keep up, developing the speed and capacity needed and offering increased scalability, efficiency and versatility.
Satisfying customers’ IP needs from a balanced perspective
Seamless network implementation and integration of all components is a key requirement for reduced total cost of ownership and fast time-to-market for services. Nokia Networks is well aware of this and as a single source vendor, takes full responsibility for end-to-end mobile broadband solutions, including IP connectivity. Nokia Networks’ expertise in Radio and Core networks reflects its deep understanding of the connectivity requirements between all components of the operator network and how to best integrate new components from different vendors. System integrators with most experience from the IT world are not in a similar position to guarantee a successful integration in a telco environment without delays.
Additionally, Nokia Networks global services and care capabilities ensure simplified and efficient delivery and technical support.
It is also essential for operators to look for innovation from a wide range of vendors to stay on top of the game and deploy the latest technologies in their networks. However, contacting each vendor separately means complex deliveries, lengthy integration testing and possible delays in roll-out. Nokia Networks partners with several leading IP specialists, allowing us to combine and tune their products and features to address the challenges of each operator with a tailored solution from a single point of contact.
We also certify that partner products are of Nokia-approved high grade quality and fully secure, ensuring they are flawlessly compatible with Nokia Networks’ core and radio components. Based on our RESilient IP lab in Munich, our rigorous testing regime makes sure there are no unwelcome surprises at roll out time. Additionally, we have defined key performance indicators (KPIs) to follow up product quality and performance with our partners. This ensures a continuous improvement process.
We can also integrate the transport system with our NetAct solution to provide network-wide monitoring.
IP Connectivity – Delivered via Nokia’s #ExpertAdvantage
As networks undergo the transformation from TDM to IP-based technologies, operators need a tailor-made IP connectivity solution. Designing and building the operator’s network to run the growing number of services in an optimized manner requires significant expertise.
Nokia Global Services’ IP expertise provides operators with a vendor-agnostic unbiased view of the best IP solution for their network needs. Let’s take a look at the different aspects of a network modernization project. It all starts with a close dialogue with the customer to closely understand the network requirements. Conducting a network assessment helps optimize the use of existing assets, and a detailed impact analysis based on existing network and service flows helps provide recommendations on the best multi-vendor product-based solution architecture for the network.
Another example of how networks are evolving today is the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses and the subsequent technology shift to IPv6 addresses. Nokia Global Services creates customized IPv6 transition solutions together with its IP partners. This involves detailed network assessments capturing the current state and service flow designs on data and transport planes, developing the IPv6 equivalent service flows, and providing network capacity and software upgrade recommendations. Finally, we test the updated service flows on Nokia’s or the customer’s test lab. All this ensures that we can deploy the solution in the best manner right from the start, minimizing network downtime and enabling rapid launch of new services.
The value we create extends well beyond the deployment phase. Our deep understanding of the network coupled with close collaboration with our IP partners provides us with valuable insights that help us rapidly resolve issues within operator networks. Most network issues are successfully resolved by Nokia experts within stringent SLA’s before further escalation towards OEM support. We also support operations and maintenance activities including monitoring, fault management and performance management for some of the vastest and most complex Operator IP networks around the world. Working in close conjunction with the customer, we additionally provide recommendations and feedback to our IP partners for roadmap evolution.
To summarize, our goal is to ensure that the customers get innovative solutions, tailored to their specific needs, with minimized risk and rapid integration into the network with telco grade reliability and support. We achieve this through efficient collaboration with both the customers and a wide range of leading IP partners.
Nokia Networks looks forward to partnering with you in your network’s transformation towards an all-IP world.
